Taming The Wild
by wicchick
Summary: WARNING: This is maleXmale coupling! Takuya realizes his feelings for Koji, but wonders how he'll react when he tells him. PG13 . COMPLETED.
1. Chapter 1

I've only started watching Digimon this season (season 4) and it's only on episode 18 or something of this season, so Kouichi isn't in it yet. Feel free to tell me if I've got something wrong. And can anyone please tell me if Koji met Takuya before episode 1 of season 4, and also please tell me about Koji's family life and if he really lives near Takuya or not? Thanks!  
  
This doesn't take place in any particular episode of the season, but the main focus is on Koji and Takuya, so it doesn't matter anyway! Oh, and sorry, but I'll be using the Americanized version of the names, cause I'm used to it. Hope you don't mind!  
  
"....."= speaking /....../= thoughts  
  
This is all gonna be from Takuya's POV (for now), so /...../ is Takuya's thoughts.  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Taming the Wild  
  
Wicchick  
  
It was nighttime in the Digiworld. The five Digi-destined and their two Digimon friends were sitting inside of a Train Trailmon, on another journey, following their Digivices' directions.  
  
"Hahaha!" Takuya laughed at a joke that J.P. had just told him. Him, J.P., Zoe, Tommy, Bokomon, and Neemon were crowded together, making the best of the ride. It would be a long journey, and no one was really sure where they were going, or why. Their Digivices just told them to go northwest, and they would be alerted when they had gone far enough. Laughing a bit more, Takuya looked around and spotted Koji sitting further down the aisle, on the floor, and quietly staring out of a window there. He didn't know why Koji never wanted to talk to or even be with them. He figured that that was just the way he was.  
  
As shunning as Koji was to him and the others, Takuya couldn't help but feel bad for him. He looked so alone, and mad. No, maybe not mad just......alone. His mind always seemed to be far away. While the others continued their amusing conversation, Takuya quietly snuck away from them, and walked over to Koji. Koji was sitting facing the window, with the leg towards the approaching Takuya bent up (his right leg), his other leg (closest to the window) lying flat on the floor with one of his arms, and his right arm casually hanging over the knee of his right leg. Takuya knew that Koji's senses were sharp enough to have noticed him standing there, but Koji didn't turn towards him. Sighing, Takuya sat, cross-legged, facing Koji.  
  
"Uh, hey Koji!" he said cheerfully.  
  
Koji made no sign that he heard him.  
  
Takuya started again. "Hey, why don't you come sit with us, huh? It's bound to be a long ride, and you'll get bored sitting here alone!"  
  
Koji turned to Takuya, and like a wild animal, gave him a warning growl, showing his teeth as if to say he would bite.  
  
"Ahh!" Takuya leapt back, and ran back to the others. /Why do I even bother with that jerk! Fine, he can sit alone if he wants!/  
  
============================================================================ =================================================  
  
Throughout the whole ride, all Takuya thought about was Koji. Again and again, he tried to get involved in the conversation with the others and banish the thoughts of Koji, but oddly, he couldn't.  
  
/Well, this is weird. Why can't I stop thinking about him?/ he chuckled to himself /it was funny though, how he just growled at me! WAIT! What am I saying? I hate that guy! I've been trying to be nice to him forever, and he growls at me when I invite him to sit and talk with us! Man! The nerve of that guy!/  
  
"TAKUYA!" Zoe shouted, bringing him out of his thoughts.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Aren't you listening? What's wrong with you? You're really out of it!" she said. ============================================================================ ==================================================  
  
An hour and a half later, Takuya decided that he'd once again try to talk to Koji. At first, he had wondered why he kept trying to talk to him. He now knew why. Before, he had had a hunch that it might be what he now knew. In fact, ever since he had met Koji, he knew, in some distant way: he was attracted to Koji. At first, it scared him to think about it, but he had to come to terms with it sooner or later. He often found himself subconsciously staring at Koji, only to have one of the others bring him out of his daze. He loved his features, and his long, blue-black hair, covered with his bandana. It wasn't just his looks that Takuya was attracted to, though. It was his personality, his aura, also. Sure, Koji got on his nerves with the way he never wanted to talk to or be near him, but Takuya could see deeper into him than what was hard on the surface. One day, he'd tell him how he felt.  
  
He walked back over to Koji. Koji's back was now to the wall, and both his knees were drawn up this time. He silently watched as Takuya smiled at him, and once again, sat cross-legged in from of him.  
  
"What do you want?" Koji grumbled.  
  
"Just to see you." Takuya answered. Noticing how that must've sounded, he hastily added, "You know, just to make sure that you're still alive back here!"  
  
"Uh, huh," Koji replied suspiciously.  
  
/Hmm, I wonder if Koji knows how I feel about him. How obvious am I?/ he wondered to himself. They both just sat there, looking into each other's eyes (though Takuya secretly did it lovingly, and Koji did it menacingly). A strip of blue hair fell out from under Koji's bandana, and swept across his face. He took no notice of it. Takuya, however, was so lost in the other boy's eyes that he accidentally let his guard down, and reached over. He took the strip of hair in his fingers, and gently tucked it behind Koji's ear. He finally realized what he had just done as Koji's backed away as best he could while sitting down. Takuya hurriedly drew his arm back down and tried to look as calm as possible.  
  
/What the hell did I just do? Damn it! Damn that boy's hypnotizing blue eyes!/  
  
Koji spoke. "W-why did you that? What did you do that for?" he said quickly and in a voice that told Takuya that he had made a mistake.  
  
Takuya, still trying to look as though everything were normal, shrugged, got up, and said "Gees, I was just helping you. Can't anyone come near you?" He walked away.  
  
When he got back to his seat, Zoe asked, "Why do you keep going back there?"  
  
"Oh, I....." he tried to think of something believable to say, when suddenly, the Trailmon stopped.  
  
"We're here!" it said.  
  
They emerged from the Trailmon, thanked it, and observed their surroundings. They were in a beautiful forest with not only trees, rivers, lakes, and ponds, but hills, mountains, and caves, too!  
  
"Cool!" Tommy said enthusiastically.  
  
J.P. starting jumping up and down. "Look, there's food! Yes, finally!" Sure enough, some of the strangest looking things were growing from the trees.  
  
"Are you sure it's food?" Takuya asked.  
  
"Yeah!" J.P. answered. " I saw it in Bokomon's book during the ride."  
  
Bokomon looked confused. "I don't remember seeing anything about food in there! Then again, I haven't gone through the whole thing." He scanned the pages of his book. "Ah, yes, J.P. is quite right! Eat up!"  
  
All of them were starving, as they hadn't eaten for nearly two days. After they ate their fill, they explored their surroundings. It was very peaceful. The seven of them all split up to see if they could discover some other Digimon in the area, or find any interesting things. While Takuya walked through some of the caves, he saw the back of a figure. It was Koji. They had come across each other's paths.  
  
/Wow, he's so.interesting. / He thought. He couldn't make himself look away.  
  
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Koji had noticed him staring. Takuya shook his head to bring him out of his suffocating thoughts.  
  
"Uh, I guess we just crossed paths."  
  
Koji stared at him for a minute, and turned and walked away.  
  
/I wonder if he feels something for me. Maybe he thinks about me. What if he knows how I feel about him? Would that freak him out? Should I tell him?/ all these thoughts ran through his mind as he watched Koji leave. Sighing, he decided he'd spend some time just sitting in the cave, thinking.  
  
He found a nice, flat area on the surface of the cave, and made sure he was well hidden from anyone who might be looking in. He spent a long time in there, but to him it felt like no time at all. He pondered about telling Koji. /No, maybe I should tell one of the others first and talk to them about it. No, that's no good either. I'd rather that Koji be the first to know, and I'm sure he'd want it the same way. That is, if he wants it at all. But not tonight. I can't tell himjust yet; I'm not ready to be rejected just yet. Soon, though. Hopefully while we're staying here. It's serene here, and there's no evil Digimon here that we have to worry about. Plus, if he rejects me, I can just hide out here till I feel better./  
  
It was so nice just sitting there, thinking depressing thoughts about being rejected, but Takuya knew that the others were waiting and would be worried. Reluctantly, he got up and went back to his starting point. Sure enough, the others were all already there.  
  
"Takuya! Takuya!" they all yelled when they saw him approaching. He looked up at the sky. It was even later than he thought.  
  
"Where were you?" said Tommy, who looked as though he'd just been crying. "Did you get into trouble, or find any Digimon?"  
  
"No, it's okay. I'm alright. Nah, I didn't find any Digimon, either. I just got sorta carried away thinking."  
  
"Thinking?" Zoe asked, disapprovingly, but obviously worried. "I'm going to ask you this again Takuya: are you alright? You've been gone "thinking" for over two hours, and today on the Trailmon-"  
  
"I'm fine!" he interrupted. "Look, I just needed to be alone for a while. But, I've thought everything out. I've got my problems figured out. I promise, I'm much better now."  
  
And he wasn't really lying. He finally admitted his feelings for Koji to himself, and decided that he would tell him while they were here. As soon as he was ready.  
  
Feeling much lighter, he followed as Bokomon led them all to a nice flat spot he had found. "We should be perfectly safe spending the night here. It doesn't look too uncomfortable, either," Bokomon said.  
  
They all arranged themselves on the ground. By sheer coincidence, Koji was lying down to Takuya's right, but was facing away from him. Takuya quickly glanced around to see how the others were positioned. All of them were turned the other way. He was very thankful for that. At least he could watch Koji without anyone else noticing.  
  
An hour, at least, had passed, and Takuya was the only one still wide awake. He lay on his side, just staring at Koji from behind him. /He's so beautiful. I've never seen anyone like him./ He wanted to see his face again. He couldn't wait till morning. Failing at trying to resist the urge, he shuffled closer to Koji, and then bent over him. Chin resting in the palm of his hand with his elbow on the ground, he watched Koji's chest rise and fall with each breath. It was all Takuya could do not to throw himself at the sleeping loner and embrace him.  
  
Suddenly, Koji's eyes opened. Takuya wanted to jump back, but he knew Koji had already seen him. So he just smiled. /I might as well hint my feeling for him before I tell him./ he reasoned. /That way, it'll come as less of a shock, and he'll have more time to think about me./  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked cautiously.  
  
/Think fast! Think fast!/ "Oh, I was just trying to figure out a way to make you stop snoring," he answered casually, but still grinning. /Good job! Wow, I'm a more fluent liar than I thought!/  
  
Koji looked at him from where he was still lying as he studied Takuya's reply. Seeming to accept his answer as believable, he turned back to the side he was facing before (looking away from Takuya) and pushed his left arm against Takuya's middle to force him back down. "Go back to sleep."  
  
To Takuya, that touch was Heaven. As he lay back down, he took a hold of Koji's arm against his stomach, and brought it down with him. Just before hitting the ground, he saw Koji's eyes go wide at this motion, though he was still facing away from Takuya. /Yes,/ Takuya thought, /I'll hint it to him./ He lay down on his back, and held Koji's hand close to his middle. Koji, it seemed, was so nonplussed that he didn't recoil. His eyes stayed wide though. Suddenly, Takuya was feeling very sleepy. Not releasing Koji's hand, he turned on his side to face his back. Even though he could finally fall asleep now, it was at the cost of Koji's sleep. /Poor Koji/ he mused /now he'll be up half the night, thinking about me and what I just did!/ And with that happy knowledge, Takuya fell fast asleep.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: The following song goes really well this chapter. It reminds me of Takuya's thoughts about how he wonders if Koji feels the same way about him, so I had to put it in here. Plus, the band rocks! This is actually one of my least favorite songs from them, but it's not bad, and like I said, it goes really well the chapter. I'll underline the parts of the song that really go with the chapter.  
  
Diffuser "I Wonder"  
  
And I wonder if you ever think about me anymore.  
  
And I wonder if you ever think about me when you're bored.  
  
And I wonder if you ever think about me when your hanging in New York.  
  
skip the next 3 lines!  
  
Chorus: Girl you mean so much to me, I wish that we could start it over, start it over.  
  
I don't need your sympathy, your apologies. Still I'm staring at my coffee cup, It's 6 A.M. and I can not give up.  
  
And I wonder if your happy or just glad to see me scarred.  
  
Did my drunken self confessions sober up your bleeding heart? I am bending over backwards to get close to you but still I feel so far.  
  
Chorus  
  
Girl you mean so much to me, I wish that we could start it over  
  
I don't need your sympathy, your apoligies, no more.  
  
Girl you mean so much to me, I wish that we could start it over, start it over  
  
I don't need your sympathy, I just want you here with me.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Hope you all enjoyed! That was my first Digimon fanfic., so please review and tell me what I did wrong! I'll add another chapter A.S.A.P. Oh, and I'm not titling the chapters, cause I'm writing a Harry Potter fanfic, too, and while writing it, I discovered that I hate trying to summarize the chapter into one title! Ok, go!!! Review! 


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry that it's been a while since I updated, but something was wrong with my computer and this wouldn't upload on Document Manager. Or maybe something's wrong with this site. Haven't really bothered to check.Anyways, here it is!  
  
Thanks to those who reviewed! Here're my replies:  
  
KellyQ- Ya, I luv Takouji! The sleeping part was the best part to write!  
  
RAVENCLAWPUNKg- That's why I luv Koji, cause he's mysterious! He so quiet, and you never know what's going on in his mind. Makes him an easy character to work with for me, cause I can make him think whatever I want.  
  
Akemi- I'm glad you like it. I'll stick to the plot as best I can!  
  
crystal y satoshi 4ever love- Thanks so much for answering my questions. It'll really help me!!!  
  
Shinigami- Thanks for the review!  
  
"..." is talking. /....../ is thinking (Takuya's)  
  
Takuya's POV  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Taming the Wild  
  
Wicchick  
  
The bright morning light fell across Takuya's eyes and woke him up. Squinting, he sat up and stretched. It took a minute for him to remember where he was. When he did, he quickly scanned the area. Everyone else was still there. That is, everyone except Koji. He briefly wondered where he had got to and why he left, but remembered the previous night's event, and realized that Koji must've needed some time alone. To think. To think about him. He couldn't help but grin. A noise from behind told him that the others were stirring.  
  
"Takuya, is that you?" Tommy asked drowsily.  
  
"Yeah. I think I'm gonna take a walk. I'll try to find more food while I'm at it."  
  
He was thankful that Tommy was too tired to ask to come along, so he quickly left. It was a reasonably warm day, but the breeze held a hint of a chill. Takuya didn't know where he wanted to go. Once again, his thoughts buried him.  
  
/Should I try to find Koji? Maybe I should tell him today. I'm sure he has a clue by now. Or maybe he needs some time alone, to think, like I did yesterday. I already gave a major hint last night, and I wouldn't want to come on too strong./  
  
In the end, he decided that he would simply walk around and let Koji find him, instead. That way, if Koji wanted to talk to him, he could, and he if he wanted to be left alone, he could just not come up to him. Takuya walked around the edge of a dense forest, and, remembering that he'd told Tommy he would look for more food, began scanning the trees and bushes. From a distance, he could see that the outer trees of the forest had something growing from them, so he went closer to see. He was pleased to find that cabbage-looking things were growing there, and remembered from a past experience that they didn't taste like cabbages at all. They had different flavors and all tasted good. He had just plucked a few off, when he felt a presence behind him. He knew who it was. Koji. Instead of turning around, he continued picking the cabbages until Koji spoke.  
  
"Takuya."  
  
The way Koji said his name, in a soft yet commanding voice made him melt inside. Trying to get a solid feeling back in his stomach, he slowly turned to face the speaker.  
  
"Hello," he said simply.  
  
Koji's bandana fluttered in the breeze with his long hair. The wind blew against him, and the way he steadily stood there, unmoving, made him look even stronger than he already was. He didn't say anything. He looked at Takuya, as if he were sizing him up. Takuya allowed Koji to search him for whatever he was looking for. He could tell that Koji was studying him, because he was looking for any sign of movement in Takuya. He was watching his veins, his temple, and then his eyes. In those eyes, he was searching. For what, Takuya didn't know. Koji almost looked past him, into him. Takuya suddenly felt very open. Koji finally spoke again.  
  
"Takuya, I want to talk to you. Follow me." It was more of a command than anything else.  
  
Takuya obediently followed. Koji led him into the same cave that he had gone to yesterday to think. Mulling over this, wondering if it meant anything, he stepped inside after Koji. They sat deep inside the cave, where no one else would be able to see them. It wasn't exactly where Takuya had sat yesterday, but it was near to that spot. Both of them sat cross- legged, facing each other. Takuya found himself feeling nervous. He hadn't expected to feel that way.  
  
Koji began, "Takuya, you've been acting really strange around me lately. Especially last night." His voice, usually so smooth and fluent, was faltering. He cleared his throat. "Is something going on?"  
  
Takuya had no idea what he was supposed to say.  
  
/Should I just tell him, right now, or act like I don't know what he's talking about? Ahh! This is too soon!/  
  
"Uh.I." he let out a breath. /Well, I guess it's now or never./ "Yes, Koji, there's something going on. I.....I don't know how to tell you this......I......I um......." He thought it would be easier than this, but now that it came right down to it, he realized how difficult it was to try to tell Koji how he felt. He just had to hold his breath and say it. "Koji, I'm attracted to you," he said breathlessly. /There, it's out. No going back now./  
  
Koji's eyes widened, but other than that, he sat motionless. It was a very uncomfortable silence. Takuya couldn't take it anymore. /What is he thinking? Why did he ask me that question if he wasn't prepared for the answer?/  
  
Koji carefully stood up, looking down at Takuya all the while. "I'm sorry. I....I don't know what to say to that." With that, he left the cave.  
  
Takuya shakily drew in a breath, doing all he could to keep himself together.  
  
/Stay calm, Takuya, don't lose it. You were expecting that, right? You didn't honestly think..../ but as much as he had expected a rejection, it still hurt all the same. The pain inside of him was unlike anything he'd ever felt. He had lost something before he'd ever really had it. Giving in to the hurt, he let out a heartbreaking sob that echoed through the cave, collapsed from his sitting position on the floor, and cried himself unconscious.  
  
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Excuse me, I have to go blow my nose.. OK, I'm back! It might take a little longer for the next chapter, cause I'm still not sure which way I want it to go, but I'll try to post it as soon as I can. R&R Please! 


	3. Chapter 3

OK, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, SORRY! I'm SOOOOO sorry (did you catch that yet?) that it's been so long since I've updated! I was in Canadia, you see. I know, that's no excuse, but I made this chapter longer and better than the last to try to make up for it. I promise not to wait so long to update again without leaving a warning first. Anywho.  
  
Thanks to those who reviewed:  
  
kellyQ- Who knows what he'll do. But, desperate times call for desperate measures!  
  
Crystal y satoshi 4ever love- Hmm, thanks for waiting.  
  
Loner Fox- No!!!!! Please don't sick the herto- Kouichi on me!! AHHHHHH!!! Forget the plz, hand over the cheese!  
  
Splash- Yes, Takouji does rock. Ah, what a wonderful, Takouji-filled world we live in. (  
  
Kouji's Gal- Begging is an excellent way to get what you want. (So are threats, which I find to be more fun!)  
  
Chibi Kitty- Here's more!  
  
RAVENCLAWPUNKg- Yes, but are you ready for this one? (OK, I know that was lame, but I couldn't think of anything else to write.)  
  
"....." is speaking /......./ is Takuya's thoughts  
  
Takuya's POV Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Taming the Wild  
  
Wicchick  
  
He was dimly aware of the fact that someone was touching him. He groaned. He didn't want to be brought back to reality, to the pain. He had been so happy and carefree where he was before. Wearily, he opened one of his eyes to see whose hands were gripping his shoulders. /Zoe. Of course. The one who cares, but not enough to leave me be!/ He sat up.  
  
"Oh, Takuya, you're alright!" she squealed, and clung to him.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Now get off!" he said, and practically threw her off of him. She looked a little hurt by that gesture, but blew it off, and started with the questions.  
  
"Are you really fine? Why were you lying here? It's been hours! We were all so worried about you. And Koji-"  
  
"What! What about Koji?!!" / Oh no! He didn't tell them did he! Agh!/  
  
She was definitely confused. "Um, Koji just told us that he had seen you in here earlier. That's how I knew where to find you."  
  
"He didn't offer to help? Didn't he want to show you exactly where he'd seen me? It is a big cave, after all." Takuya was sad. Koji didn't even care enough to make sure Zoe found him. He probably never wanted to see him again. Takuya couldn't live with that.  
  
"Well, no," Zoe replied gently. She obviously wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, so she made her tone neutral. "I guess he thought it'd be easy to find you. What's going on? You've been acting....I don't know, unusual lately. It's not like you to wander off without telling anyone."  
  
"I told Tommy!" he said defiantly.  
  
"Sure, but you didn't say where you'd be or when you'd be back. Let me guess, came to think again?"  
  
/Why does she have to worry so much! I don't see the others with her. At least they're acting normal and not worrying about me for no reason./ "Uh, yeah. Hey, why didn't anyone else come with you?"  
  
Zoe looked down and blushed. "I - I guess I was the only one who was really worried enough to look for you. When I asked Koji about you and he told me where you were, the others all agreed that it'd be best to leave you alone until you felt better and came back, but-"  
  
"And they were right," Takuya said angrily.  
  
Zoe looked up again and sighed. "I know. I was worried about you, of course, but I mainly wanted to talk with you in private. Something's going on Takuya, I know it is. Tell me, please, and maybe I can help you. You'll feel better if you talk to someone."  
  
The last thing Takuya wanted to do was to admit to someone else his feelings for Koji and tell them that he had been rejected. "How do you know something's wrong? How can you be sure?"  
  
Zoe shrugged. "I'm a girl," she replied, as if that answered everything.  
  
"I'm sorry, Zoe, but at this point, talking to someone about my problems would only make me feel worse. Maybe we can talk later."  
  
She nodded her head and began to rise. "I understand. Whenever you're ready to talk, Takuya, I'm ready to listen. Hey, how about we go back to our camp spot? You must be hungry now, and by the looks of it, you're dead tired."  
  
Takuya compliantly stood and followed her back to the camp that had been neatly set up by Bokomon earlier that morning. He was horrified to find that Koji was there, sitting on a log and eating. Koji determinedly stared at his food as he chewed, not once looking up. Takuya sighed inwardly and grabbed a piece of the cabbage-looking food. He sat besides Zoe who was sitting towards a pre-made fire, her back turned to Koji. The others were just coming back as the two of them sat down.  
  
"Takuya!" shouted J.P. "There you are! Told you he was alright, Zoe!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," she muttered.  
  
Tommy was with J.P., and Bokomon and Neemon were already there, so together they ate, J.P. and Tommy telling them about where they had gone. Suddenly, everyone's D-Tectors began to glow. Each person held up their own, and listened for instructions. A voice inside of J.P.'s D-Tector spoke to the whole group.  
  
"You have all reached your destination. The reason you have been directed to come here is so that you can gain more power. You all have elemental powers that you must come in tune with. Here is the perfect spot for that. Each day you are here, you will grow stronger, not just from resting after such a long time, but also from the influences of Mother Nature around you. I can't say just how long you will be here, but just that you will be able to leave once your powers become tuned with the natural powers of the Digital World. You will feel a connection to the environment around you once you make that connection. Enjoy your time, but keep an eye out for anything unusual, for evil can lurk anywhere."  
  
"Oh, great, that's inspirational," moaned J.P..  
  
"Well, this should be great! No evil Digimon! Yay!" said Zoe, looking at the lighter side of things.  
  
"For now, anyways," Koji muttered under his breath.  
  
After eating, it was decided that like before, they should each go their separate ways and meet back at the camp just after dark. Before Takuya could leave, Zoe grabbed his arm and spun around to face him.  
  
"Be back just after dark, Takuya! No "thinking" for hours! I don't want to have to come looking for you again!"  
  
/Boy, isn't she the maternal one./ "Fine, fine" He was relieved that he could spend more time away from Koji. Even though it was obvious that Koji hadn't told the others about what had happened, Takuya was still worried. The others were smart, and if he wasn't careful, they'd find out somehow. Zoe already knew something was wrong, even if she couldn't pinpoint it.  
  
/Okay, Takuya, stop worrying about that, and start thinking about what J.P.'s D-Tector said. I have to get in tune with the 'natural powers of the Digital World,' whatever that means./ On he wandered, to no specific location, trying hard to banish all thoughts of Koji. Blindly, he walked into something hard, and fell backwards, landing on his ass. Rubbing his behind as he stood, he was shocked to see what stood before him. It wasn't a tree or cave side, but a Digimon. It was steel-gray colored, and from their brief close contact, Takuya knew that it felt as cold as it looked.  
  
"Uh, hello?"  
  
"I am Kleptomon!"  
  
Name: Kleptomon Attacks: Sticky Claws, Metal Hammer  
  
Appearance: Steel-gray; icy cold to the touch  
  
Other: Has a habit of stealing things  
  
Before Takuya had time to think, or Spirit Evolve, Kleptomon used his sticky claws attack to steal Takuya's D-Tector.  
  
"Hey! Give that back you little thief!"  
  
"I am Kleptomon! Its what I do! Hahaha!"  
  
"I'll show you-" Takuya ran to punch the kleptomaniac, but instead was attacked with the Metal Hammer, and he was knocked out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Huh? Where am I?"  
  
Takuya had woken up, and was extremely confused. He was somewhere cold, dark, and damp. His head was pounding with pain. Moaning, he stood up. He could see a faint light just ahead, and so he walked towards it. When he reached the light, he saw that it was a badly made candle, but picked it up off the ground and held it up to view his surroundings. He was in a cave.  
  
"Man, what is it with me and caves? Oh well, guess I'd better get outta here!" he no sooner said that than he realized he couldn't get out. He was in a deep pit inside of the cave. / Oh great! Now what do I do? Hmm, where'd that Kleptomon dude go?/ "Kleptomon! Where are ya! Come here, right now!" To his surprise, Kleptomon actually came. He was grinning evilly.  
  
"Oh hello. Nice toy you have here," he said, holding up Takuya's D-Tector. "Course, I guess it's MY nice toy, now!"  
  
"Hey, you give that back! Its mine! I bet you don't even know what it does!"  
  
"True, but it's pretty! I like pretty, shiny things. It's mine. Have fun down there; I'm going to go play with my new toy."  
  
"No! Wait!!" Takuya shouted, but Kleptomon had already left. Takuya was now very pissed off. "Aggr!" he began attacking the dirt and rock wall that surrounded the pit he was in. After ten minutes of beating up his surroundings, he finally gave up. /This is no use! I guess I'll just have to wait. But for what? Man, this would be a rotten way to die! Sitting in a deep hole, all alone. This is pathetic! I have to get out of here! But how?/ He didn't know how long he'd been in there, but it must have been a while, because he was starting to feel very tired. /No. Don't sleep. It can't be safe./ The quietness of the cave was interrupted by soft footsteps. /Kleptomon! Maybe I can strike a bargain with him to get me outta here!/ He looked up for Kleptomon, but he didn't see him. Instead, looking down on him was none other that Koji Minomoto. /Why the hell..?/  
  
"Takuya! Is that you?"  
  
"Yeah, its me. I'm stuck down here. Kleptomon stole my D-Tector and knocked me unconscious, and then I guess he brought me here. There's no way out...."  
  
"But up," Koji finished for him. "Here, I'll help you." He lay down on his stomach as close to the edge of the pit as he could, while still making sure he wouldn't fall off, and reached down for Takuya, but there was still some distance between them.  
  
"I can't reach. Is there any rope or something there?"  
  
Koji disappeared for a few minutes, and then came back holding a long tree vine. "There's this." He held onto one end of the vine, and threw down the other end. Takuya grabbed it, and as he climbed, Koji pulled.  
  
"Hurry up, I think I hear someone coming in!"  
  
Takuya finally got out of the pit and reached level ground. "Er....thanks."  
  
Koji waved his hand. "Yeah, no problem."  
  
The awkward silence was broken by a booming voice. "Hey, I don't remember two humans" Kleptomon said. "Oh well, more toys for me!"  
  
"Koji lookout!" Takuya said, and shoved Koji to the side as Kleptomon prepared to use his sticky claws attack to steal his D-Tector.  
  
"That's a nasty habit to get into!" Koji said, and spirit evolved. "Execute Spirit Evolution! Lobomon!"  
  
Lobomon attacked Kleptomon, and totally kicked his ass. He did get hit by Kleptomon's Metal Hammer once, but soon defeated him. "Fractal Code Digitize!" he said once Kleptomon was vulnerable. Breathing hard, he went back to being Koji, and picked up Takuya's D-Tector from the ground where it had been dropped. "That was easy." He handed the D-Tector back to Takuya, who smiled his gratitude and took it.  
  
"Um, Koji..." Takuya badly wanted things to go back to normal. He couldn't stand the awkwardness that he had felt earlier that day at lunch, and even though Koji never talked to him, he still felt like he was getting more of the cold shoulder than before. Even if Koji wouldn't love him, at least he wouldn't totally ignore him. Even if Takuya couldn't have him, at least they could maybe just be friends. As Takuya went over all he wanted to say in his head to make sure it came out right when he spoke, Koji did the unexpected.  
  
He leaned forward and kissed Takuya. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Oooooo, I can feel the death stares already! I know you want to kill me for leaving it like that, but I'll write again soon! Hehehe! 


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for your reviews!  
  
kellyQ- Yeah, I had to have it like that. Nothing else woulda worked.  
  
Chibi Kitty- Wow, that's the second threat on my life! I don't know whether to be pleased or worried......  
  
LadyLobomon warrior of Shadow- Whew, a bit too much sugar, eh? Hehehe, sugar-rushes rule!  
  
dna- Well, he didn't exactly admit his love. He's not really sure. You'll see.....  
  
Loner Fox- {shudders} DO NOT SPEAK THE DARK LORD'S NAME! H.P. rawks!  
  
RAVENCLAWPUNKg- I'm glad you're happy! Happiness is contagious! So are other things, but let's not get into that.  
  
Ice Kory X- Yep, I'll try to go fast for ya.  
  
crystal y satoshi 4ever love- I promise to continue!  
  
Hyper Pegesus- Hmm, BBQ chips and beer? Sure you're not wacky {nervous chuckle}. Seriously though, hurry up w/ my order.  
  
Shinigami- Again with the threats {sigh}. Who didn't see that one coming? Oh well, I deserved it. I'm glad you starting reading this!!!  
  
Kawaii-chan- Sorry for the wait, but here it is! Enjoy!  
  
"......" is speaking /....../ is Takuya's thoughts  
  
Takuya's POV  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Taming the Wild  
Wicchick  
  
/Well, this is certainly better than what I was about to do./  
  
Takuya had not expected his thoughts to suddenly be thrown away. Nor had he expected to have Koji's tongue seeking entrance into his mouth. In fact, the whole thing was quite shocking: as Takuya had been preparing to try to have a talk with Koji, his mouth had been pushed up against Koji's. Next thing he knew, he was being forcefully held to the spot by Koji so that he couldn't escape (not that he wanted to) and Koji was sliding his tongue into Takuya's mouth. He couldn't figure out what had sparked this sudden change in Koji, and was starting to doubt that Koji had meant to kiss him in the first place.  
  
/What if it was just an accident? Maybe he slipped and...landed on my lips? But, he's not stopping. Yeah, we've been at it for a whole minute now, and he hasn't pushed away. Oh, to hell with it.../ Throwing caution to the wind, Takuya threw his dangling arms around Koji's neck, and drew him nearer. Koji groaned, and gripped Takuya all the tighter. Takuya was suddenly very thankful that Koji was holding him down, because he was sure that if he hadn't been, his knees would have given way much before now.  
  
All too soon, the kiss was over, and they parted, panting. Neither of them looked at the other. Takuya felt like he was going to burst if he didn't say something, so he asked, "So, does this mean you like me, too?"  
  
In the dim light, he could just barely see Koji's once serious features soften into a light laugh. Then he spoke. "I-I know that was...I mean, I don't know what came over me. Sorry I-"  
  
"No! No, I'm not mad or anything. It was a little unexpected...OK, very unexpected, but..So, do you like me, then?"  
  
Koji didn't answer right away. When he did, his reply was mumbled and unintelligible, and Takuya had to ask him to repeat. Sighing, he answered, "I said, I don't know."  
  
"What? No, I heard you," he said, as Koji had given him an impatient look, "but how can you not know? You just...you just kissed me!"  
  
"I know! I didn't do it cause I was suddenly sure I have feelings for you. It was spontaneous. Ever since that night you told me how you felt, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. I had to figure out how I felt so that's why I kissed you."  
  
Takuya took a moment to take this all in, and then asked, "So, how do you feel?"  
  
"I just said I didn't know!" Koji said angrily.  
  
Takuya was taken aback. "Sorry I asked," he said coldly.  
  
"No, I'm sorry, I'm just so...ARGH!" Koji was raking his hands through his hair, and then brought them down to cover his eyes as he spoke. "I'm just so confused."  
  
"So am I."  
  
An odd silence fell between them, and Takuya knew he had to take a chance if he wanted Koji, so he broke it. "Well, if you're not sure, then uh.." he cleared his throat, "uh, well, we could just try it. I mean, try being together."  
  
Koji's eyes were still covered with his hands as he pondered this idea. Takuya could feel sweat beading his forehead. "I just don't want to get into something that I may later regret," he said carefully.  
  
"Koji, listen, this isn't some lifelong commitment. It's just like any other relationship, only yeah, it questions our sexuality, but if it doesn't work out, well then, it doesn't work out. We don't have to tell anyone about it either. And you can still go back to liking girls; this doesn't mean you're gay forever."  
  
"Who said I was gay!" Koji responded defensively. Takuya raised his eyebrow. "Fine, whatever. I guess you have a point. It's just so weird. I've never been in a relationship before, and now my first one is going to be with another guy? I've never been attracted to any guy before, and suddenly..." he trailed off.  
  
"Neither have I. Not with a girl, or a guy. But if you really want your first relationship to be with a girl, you could always bang up Zoe, ditch her, and come back to me for your second one."  
  
Koji burst out laughing. "Well, there's an idea! But now that I think about it, Zoe doesn't seem quite as appealing as you do. I guess we could try this out."  
  
Takuya sighed with relief. "Thank god! Now, how about another kiss?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
They emerged from the cave only a few minutes later. Takuya was subconsciously licking his lips as they headed back to the camp.  
  
/Mmm, he tastes so sweet. Is this his saliva, or mine?/ he wondered. It was well past the time that the two of them should have been there. As they approached the firelight, Takuya saw Zoe pacing up and down, and then she threw her arms up angrily when she saw him.  
  
"Takuya Kanbara! Didn't you promise to be back just after dark? How can you leave me worrying here! I didn't know-oh, hi Koji." She had just noticed Koji standing besides Takuya. "W-what are-"  
  
"Takuya ran into some trouble in a cave. I heard him calling for help, so I went to find him. We had to battle a Digimon who had stolen his D-Tector. It was late when we were done, so we decided to come back together," Koji answered. Takuya was happy that he had said 'we had to battle a Digimon' instead of 'I had to battle a Digimon'.  
  
"Oh. Well, what Digimon was it? Did you purify his fractal code?"  
  
Takuya spoke up this time. "His name was Kleptomon. He had a nasty theft problem. And yeah, Koji purified his fractal code."  
  
"Right. I'm just glad you two are okay. So, did you 'get in tune with nature'?"  
  
/Oh we got in tune with something alright./ "Nope. You?"  
  
"Nah. I know it's supposed to be peaceful and all here, but I still couldn't concentrate. My mind was somewhere else. I don't think the others had much luck, either."  
  
"Well, there's always tomorrow. Hey, anyone got any food? That fight really wore me out," said Takuya. Koji smirked at him and whispered, so only Takuya could hear, "Yeah, I've heard that being knocked unconscious really builds up an appetite." Takuya tried not to grin.  
  
"Yeah, follow me. J.P. found some fruit trees, so we've got plenty to eat. Don't worry," she added, seeing Takuya's disgusted look, "he's still got some chocolate too! I think he's making S'mores now. Where'd he get marshmallows and Graham crackers from?" she wondered out loud, and lead Koji and Takuya towards where J.P. was sitting.  
  
While they ate, each person (and Digimon---Bokomon and Neemon) told the rest about where they had been. Takuya and Koji were the only ones with an interesting tale, since they were the only ones who found a Digimon, and an evil one, nonetheless. Everyone was wiped out from having walked all day, so they decided to call it a night a little earlier than they usually would have.  
  
Takuya and Koji didn't talk to each other while finding a sleeping place, but tried to sleep next to each other as discretely as possible. Luckily, no one noticed When Takuya was sure that everyone was asleep except for him (Koji had already fallen asleep) he turned on his side to face Koji's back, scooted closer to him, and draped his arm tightly around Koji's middle. Koji stirred a bit, put his hand on top of Takuya's arm, and slightly moaned his approval. Takuya brought his head closer to Koji's, and with his mouth next to Koji's ear, he whispered a good night. Koji seemed to have drifted off to sleep once again, and didn't respond, so Takuya slowly traced his ear with his tongue. Koji finally groaned his delight, and had to stifle a giggle. Contented with his response, Takuya rested his head back on the hard ground, matched his breathing with Koji's, and slowly drifted off to a peaceful sleep.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Ahhh, I'm happy now. When Takuya's happy, I'm happy. More to come! 


	5. Chapter 5

La la la la la..oh, hello there! Why am I here again..right, next chapter. Hmmm, think I'll skip reviews today (but I still appreciate them!).  
  
"...." speaking /...../ Takuya's thoughts  
  
Takuya's POV  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Taming the Wild  
  
Wicchick  
  
Takuya didn't welcome the morning sunlight. All that meant to him was that he had to let go of Koji (whom he had held onto all night). As soon as he heard movement from the others he hastily drew his arm back to his side, and turned away from Koji. J.P. grumbled a "'morning" and woke the others up. What Takuya wouldn't give to lie there by Koji for just one more minute, but Koji, too, was getting up. He gave a quick smile to Takuya before standing, and then asked Zoe what the plan for the day was.  
  
"We still need to do what Ophanimon told us to do, and since none of us had much luck yesterday, I think we should all try again, " she replied, and then looked straight at Takuya for his opinion.  
  
"That's fine by me," he said.  
  
"Great! We'll meet back here just after dark again. Oh, and considering what happened yesterday, I also think we should split up into pairs. We wouldn't want anyone to be alone and defenseless again."  
  
"I WAS NOT DEFENSELESS! KLEPTOMON STOLE MY D-TECTOR!"  
  
"Yeah, well, you should have been more careful, Takuya. In fact, you're coming with me. It seems that I need to keep an eye on you or else you'll always get into trouble."  
  
"But..." He looked longingly at Koji, but Koji shook his head sternly and turned away. /Fine, have it your way!/ "Alright."  
  
J.P. called from behind, 'Hey, Tommy, wanna be my partner?"  
  
"Sure!" he agreed. "But what about...." They all looked at Koji.  
  
"Fine, I'll go by myself. It's not like I wanted to go with one of you anyways."  
  
"No, Koji. You'd better go with Bokomon and Neemon," Zoe said.  
  
"Whatever. C'mon then," he motioned for the two Digimon to follow him, and then walked away.  
  
"But what about breakfast!" Zoe called after him. Koji just shrugged and continued walking. "OOOOK then. Uh, let's eat and go!"  
  
They had a quick breakfast of bananas and berries and then headed off in different directions. Takuya trailed behind Zoe, letting her take the lead for once. Instead of another damp cave, she led him down by a river in the middle of a small forest clearing.  
  
"I came by here yesterday on my way back to camp. Thought it'd be a good place to go today."  
  
Takuya just nodded his head, and sat on the edge of the grass, letting his sneakers and legs wade in the water. He stared down at his reflection, thinking about Koji, and didn't look up till he heard Zoe.  
  
"So, um, are you ready to have that talk yet?"  
  
"Zoe, we're supposed to be getting in tune with nature, not making conversation." He didn't really feel like talking.  
  
"I know! But we have loads of time, and I just want to talk. Are you better now? You certainly seemed to be in a better mood yesterday."  
  
Takuya sighed happily. "Yeah, I think my problems are solved for now."  
  
"Oh," Zoe replied in an almost hurt way. /Guess she really wanted to be the one to help me. Girls.../ "Well, can I at least ask what the problem was? Before it was solved, I mean."  
  
Koji had agreed with him that they shouldn't tell the others about their fresh relationship.  
  
"Er-not just yet. It's..uh...sort of a....sensitive subject," he said carefully, still looking down.  
  
"Oh. Oh! You mean....." she looked, in a horrified manner, at Takuya's crotch.  
  
Takuya followed her eyes to see where she was looking, and then gasped. "No! No, Zoe, it's got nothing to do with my....that!"  
  
She quickly looked away, and visibly blushed. "No, of course not. T-That's not what I thought."  
  
Takuya couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"What? Stop it! I'm already embarrassed!"  
  
"He he, I'm sorry! It's just.ha ha ha ha ha!" he burst out laughing again.  
  
"If you're not gonna quit laughing, I'm leaving Takuya!"  
  
"Fine, fine! I'll stop!" Takuya could tell that Zoe was still embarrassed, cause she sat a little further away from him, and didn't talk to him for a couple of hours. Takuya wasn't even trying to do as he was supposed to. He was too busy fantasizing about Koji and wondering how much luck he was having with the task at hand.  
  
/Maybe I can sneak him away from camp tonight, and get another kiss out of him. The others won't notice; they'll be snoozing. But Koji does worship sleep; maybe before we go to sleep we can pretend to hear a noise and go off to "check it out". That's not suspicious, is it?/ His thoughts were momentarily cut off by Zoe's voice.  
  
"Takuya, are you even trying?!"  
  
"Of course I am," he said dumbly, and resumed his thinking.  
  
"Hey, there's some fruit trees nearby, why don't we get some lunch?"  
  
Takuya hadn't even noticed how loudly his stomach had been growling. "Great, I could use a break." They got up and walked over to a line of fruit trees. While Zoe plucked off a pineapple and some berries, Takuya got a couple apples and a handful of grapes. Zoe attempted to redeem herself by conversing with Takuya while they ate.  
  
"So, how are we gonna know when we're done, anyway?"  
  
"No idea. Ophanimon said we'd 'feel a connection' but that doesn't help much."  
  
"Yeah. As nice as it is here, I sorta hope we leave soon. I feel like the Digital World could be decaying while we wait here."  
  
"Nah, Ophanimon would tell us if anything major was happening. After all, we're the ones who have to fight it, right? I guess she figures that we can become stronger here, and then we'll be ready to fight whatever's out there."  
  
They had both finished eating. It was staring to get dark, so Takuya stood and said, "Think we should head back, now?"  
  
Zoe also stood. "Yeah."  
  
As Takuya turned around, Zoe grabbed his arm, swung him around, and then did the unexpected.  
  
She leaned forward and kissed Takuya.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Yikes! This is gonna make things a little complicated! 


	6. Chapter 6

kellyQ- Ask and you shall receive....hehehe!  
  
Hyper Pegesus- Yep, plot purposes. Just to make it interesting.  
  
Loner Fox- This is funny-everyone hates Zoë now!!  
  
Taku-chan- Hey, 's long as you don't kill me, you can kill whoever you want- but let me finish the story first cause I'll be needing Zoë for it.  
  
Crystal Ketchum- What is trauma? What is drama? Hehehe, watch TNT? If you do, you'll understand- if not, you'll think I'm an idiot.  
  
TerrierLee- I'm not gonna ask......  
  
Kawaii-chan- He he he, your right, it's more than a little complicated!  
  
Mistress of the Darkness- Okay, freaky! That was like my 4th or 5th death threat! Hmmm, what did happen to the last person? I'm guessing I don't wanna know..{shudders}  
  
"...." you know what that is by now /......./ and you should know what that is, too.  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Taming the Wild  
  
Wicchick  
  
Takuya struggled to find his thoughts. When it finally sunk in what was happening, he gasped against Zoë's mouth.  
  
/What the hell is she doing? Get off! Get off!/ Takuya pushed Zoë away from him. Zoë stumbled, but didn't fall.  
  
"What do you think you were doing? What's wrong with you!" Takuya yelled.  
  
Zoë looked deeply hurt and didn't say anything as Takuya kept asking her questions like why the hell did she do that. Finally, she burst into tears. This shut Takuya right up.  
  
/Oh man, now I've made her cry! Maybe I was too hard on her. But still.../  
  
"No, Zoë, don't cry. Zoë I...I didn't mean to be mean, you just...I wasn't expecting that."  
  
Zoë, still in tears, looked up and sniffed. "So your not mad? I know I just went out on a whim, but I couldn't help it. I've wanted to tell you forever! I thought you....maybe felt the same way too?" She looked up hopefully.  
  
/How can I tell her that I don't? I know how much it'd hurt her. I remember when I told Koji and he wasn't sure how he felt; I remember how much it hurt thinking that he'd never love me. But I don't love her!/  
  
"Look, Zoë, I just haven't been thinking about you. You can't ask me to decide how I feel when I've never really thought about it."  
  
"But I thought-" she snapped her mouth shut and looked down.  
  
"What? What did you think?"  
  
Zoë sighed, and reluctantly told Takuya what she had thought. "I- I thought that all those times you were 'thinking', that maybe you were thinking of....well, me. You hadn't been acting the same, and I know from experience how peoples' attitudes tend to change when they're dealing with great emotion. First I thought that something was wrong, but nothing had happened. And we've been in the Digital World a long time now, so I'd know if something bad had happened, and it's not like you could be having family problems when your this far away from home, right?"  
  
Takuya nodded, and let her continue. "So, after a while, I decided that you must be in love with someone. And seeing as I'm the only girl here....well, you know what I thought. Plus, I guess it was just wishful thinking, cause I do have feelings for you, Takuya. But I guess it couldn't have been love that was on your mind."  
  
Takuya sighed inwardly. /At least she didn't stop to think that maybe I was thinking about love, just not about a girl./  
  
"So, anyways, what was on your mind? If it...if it wasn't me, I mean."  
  
/Wow, she bounces back quickly./ "Well, like I said before, it's personal. It was just about me, and my life. And I just really want to save the Digital World, so I think about that a lot," he lied. He couldn't tell her the truth, not without consulting Koji anyway, since it concerned him, too.  
  
"I understand. I sometimes feel the same way- especially when we meet other Digimon whose lives and homes have been ruined. I just want to help them all."  
  
"Yeah. So- uh, I guess we should really get back, right?" He felt very uncomfortable being alone with Zoë now that he knew how she felt about him.  
  
"Yeah. And I promise not to kiss you this time," she giggled.  
  
Takuya just chuckled nervously. "Heh, yeah."  
  
As they headed back to camp in silence, the sky grew darker. In the quietness, little sounds were very audible. They reached the camp, and were greeted by the others. Takuya spotted Koji and crept over to him while J.P. and Tommy talked to Zoë.  
  
"Hey," Koji said.  
  
"Hey. How'd it go?"  
  
"Alright, I guess. Bokomon and Neemon left me alone for the most part, which was great. Those two can get real annoying. Still not much luck with connecting with the universe, though. How'd things go with you and Zoë?"  
  
Takuya was about to tell him what had happened, when he stopped to think about it first. /It's not really that important; it doesn't change things between Koji and me. And he'd only get mad at Zoë, and who knows what he'd do then. Zoë knows I don't love her, and she's too embarrassed to bring it up again, I'm sure. So why tell him?/  
  
"Uh, same here. We just sat around all day. Didn't talk much, and neither of us had any luck either."  
  
"Yeah, think the same thing went for J.P. and Tommy. I guess we'll be here a while. Oh well, least it's peacef-" he was cut off by a loud screech. The two of them whipped around and were looking at a large Digimon.  
  
J.P. cautiously approached it. "Hello. Uh, do you come in peace?"  
  
The Digimon made another horrible screeching sound, and hit J.P. who was knocked to the ground. Rubbing his cheek, he muttered, "Guess not."  
  
Bokomon quickly explained. "That's Scorpomon. His tail is lined with spikes, and he's got a nasty temper. He's pretty powerful, and his attacks are so painful, they may knock you unconscious. Well, what are you waiting for?" he added, staring at the Takuya and the others.  
  
"Oh, right. Execute Spirit Evolution! Agunimon!"  
  
The rest of the group also changed into their human-type Digimon forms. Beetlemon was first to attack, no doubt to get even with Scorpomon for hitting him. Scorpomon was barely fazed and swung his tail around to literally nail Beetlemon, but he dodged the attack. Agunimon used his "Pyro- Punch!" and Scorpomon's attention was turned to him. Each of the chosen attacked Scorpomon, who was starting to get confused, dizzy, and weak. Kazemon attacked with "Thunder Wave" but Scorpomon dodged it and counterattacked with his tail. He hit Kazemon square in the head, and she devolved back into Zoë.  
  
"Zoë!" Beetlemon cried. He was so pissed off at Scorpomon that he gathered his remaining strength and attacked him. Finally, Scorpomon's Digicode appeared, and J.P. scanned it. After everyone had devolved back to their human selves, J.P. rushed to Zoë's side and bent down beside her. She was only partly conscious.  
  
"Oh, Zoë! Zoë, can you hear me? Are you okay?"  
  
Zoë just lay there but made a faint noise. She seemed to be in her own world. Then she spoke. "Takuya....get Takuya."  
  
Confused, J.P. called Takuya over. Takuya bent down beside her, and asked "Yeah? Are you okay, Zoë?"  
  
Zoë's eyes were still closed, and Takuya didn't think she had any clue what she was doing. "Takuya...kiss me again? When we kissed today in the forest, I.....kiss me again?"  
  
/Oh no./ Takuya gulped. He spun around and found Koji's face. If looks could kill, Takuya would be dead. Koji was shooting daggers at him with his eyes. "No, Koji-"  
  
But Koji turned and ran. No one besides Takuya noticed. "Koji!" he called, standing up. He was about to run after him, but someone caught his arm. He turned, and saw that it was J.P..  
  
"YOU KISSED HER? HOW DARE YOU! I'LL KILL YOU, TAKUYA, I'LL FREAKIN KILL YOU!  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Takuya emerged from the campsite badly bruised and bleeding. J.P. had beaten him up before he'd even had the chance to explain. When J.P. briefly paused to catch his breath, Takuya used all his strength to speak. His voice was little more than a whisper, and J.P. had to strain to hear it. Even after Takuya explained what had really happened, J.P. was not fully convinced. He said that as soon as Zoë regained full consciousness, he'd ask her what really happened, but in the meantime he'd mercifully let Takuya escape with what remaining life he had.  
  
Even though he was in so much pain, Takuya kept walking. He knew that he should really sit down and rest, at least until he stopped bleeding from the nose and mouth, but all he could think about was Koji. He had to get to him as soon as possible. He had to explain-to tell the harmless truth of what really happened. He couldn't stand the thought of Koji being mad at him, at Koji thinking he had betrayed him. He couldn't stand the thought of losing Koji.  
  
/But everything will be alright/ he told himself. / I'll tell Koji what really happened, then we'll kiss and makeup. If I can get there, that is.../ He stopped to rest a little. Leaning against a tree and panting, he tried to figure out where to find Koji. He had seen the general direction in which Koji had run, but he could have gone anywhere from there. Takuya lifted his head and surveyed the landscape. It kind of looked familiar...  
  
/Of course!/ he thought. / He must have gone to the cave! It's around here, somewhere, and after everything that's happened between us in that cave, it's the only spot I can think of that he would go to!/  
  
Ten long, painful minutes later, he found the cave and stepped inside. The familiar dankness and darkness greeted him. He walked all through the cave, but Koji was nowhere to be seen. He was too exhausted to carry on without another rest, so he sat down on a stone and leaned against the cave wall.  
  
/I thought he'd be here. Then again, he probably knew I'd search here for him. I guess he doesn't want to be found. How can I explain everything to him if I can't even find him?/ Takuya was getting more and more depressed. Just the other day everything was peachy keen, and now it was ruined. Life sure changes a lot from day to day, he thought. How could everything be so wonderful one minute, and so terrible the next? And where the hell was Koji?  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Well, that's it for now! Wow, J.P. was real pissed off. Hey, I've got a bit of bad news: I'm going to Texas and I won't be back until the end of July, so I won't be able to update for a while. I know I promised to tell you all before I go anywhere, so just thought I'd let you know. But I am NOT deserting this story! I will continue it as soon as I get back! I'll try to get another chapter in before I leave, but I'm leaving in a few days, so I don't think I'll be able to. Sorry! I'll write again first thing when I get back! 


	7. Chapter 7

Hey again! Well, I got back from Texas on Thursday and went to Vans Warped Tour on Friday (it kicked ass!), and started writing this chapter on Saturday, so that's why I just got this chapter posted today.  
  
Hyper Pegesus- Yeah, I feel bad for them too. So why do I make bad things happen to them? Hmmm, interesting.  
  
Splash- You're welcome! Yeah, she's pretty naïve, and I guess a bit cocky, too.  
  
Crystal Ketchum- Aw well, you'd have to watch TNT to understand- it had to do with a commercial for that station... anyhow, enjoy!  
  
Anime Writer- I actually thought about doing a Koji POV for this chapter and another chapter before this one, but once I started writing it I found that it gave away some feelings and thoughts of Koji's, which I didn't want revealed. I want Takuya (as well as the readers) to not completely understand Koji so that he's more mysterious. But I may do one in the future or else just have part of a chapter from his viewpoint. Glad you like it!  
  
LilxAznxDragonz- Don't worry, I'm continuing!  
  
Loner Fox- Thanks, I had a great time in Texas! It's true what they say: Everything is bigger in Texas. At least bigger than it is in Florida.  
  
RAVENCLAWPUNKg- Yeah, he should have. Would have saved him a lot of trouble...and blood!  
  
"......" Blah blah blah /......../ Blah blah  
  
Takuya's POV  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Taming the Wild  
Wicchick  
  
Hours of misery and pain had passed before Takuya found the strength to get back up again and continue his search for Koji. As he exited the cave he saw a small pool of water and decided to clean his wounds. He stooped down, ripped of a piece of his shirt that had been torn anyways, soaked it in water, and applied the damp cloth to his body. The blood had dried to a crust and he had to scrape it away. Seeing that no severe damage had been done to him, he stumbled back to his feet and looked around, wondering where Koji might have gone. Where would he go if he wanted to be alone? Well, he would have gone to the cave, but Koji wasn't there. Somewhere where no one could find him, where no one could see him...the forest? It'd be impossible to see anyone if they were in the middle of all those trees and bushes. But how would he find Koji then? The forest was huge and it could take days. Making up his mind that that was the best option for now, Takuya headed for the forest.  
  
Birds chirped and lizards scuttled around, but no sign of Koji. Vibrant greenery and shimmering, startlingly blue waters surrounded him, but no sign of Koji. Ants at work and flowers in bloom, but still no sign of Koji. Eerie silence, still water, near darkness, and sitting in the center of it all was Koji.  
  
Takuya almost gasped, he was so shocked to see him. He thought he'd never find him. He scooted back a little so that he was hidden in the trees and did his best not to make a sound as he watched Koji. Koji was sitting by the calm lake, and staring at it so intently that it seemed he was debating whether or not he should dive in and drown himself. It figured that out of all the beautiful and lively places in the forest, Koji would pick the most silent and deserted part of it to hide in. Takuya tried to read what expression was on his face, but Koji's emotionless mask was to thick to penetrate. Even though he knew it was no use, Takuya tried to sneak up on him from behind. Just as he thought would happen, Koji sensed him and sharply looked up. Seeing who it was, he made to run but Takuya was faster. He lunged at Koji and fell down on top of him.  
  
Koji struggled to get free and screamed at him, "Get off me! Leave me alone!"  
  
"Just let me explain!" Takuya mumbled back. "I just need to- argh!" he huffed, with the effort of trying to keep Koji down.  
  
"No! GET OFF!!!!"  
  
Takuya jumped to his feet, as Koji got loose, and grabbed his arm. His grip wasn't tight enough, and he knew Koji would soon get away. / Why can't he be still for a minute? I just need to explain, but he won't let me!/ At a desperate attempt to get Koji to sit still, Takuya made a fist and punched him hard in the stomach. It had the desired effect, and Koji was knocked off his feet.  
  
Takuya let out a quick sigh of relief. "Good. Now, just listen to me. Zoë and I-" he started, but he was cut off by a blow in the mouth. It seemed he had angered the beast, whose temper was now at a boiling point.  
  
/Uh-oh/  
  
And so began the battle.  
  
Fists flew, blood splattered, curses were yelled, and all the while Takuya was struggling to get a few words of his explanation out. He trashed the whole speech that he had gone over in his head while searching for Koji and decided that he should just hit the important points.  
  
"She-argh!-kissed me, but I-ow!-pushed her away-shut up!- nothing! It meant NOTHING!" Surprisingly, Koji paused his attack. Panting, Takuya seized this moment to get out a full sentence. "It meant nothing, Koji."  
  
"Nothing? NOTHING! If it meant nothing then why the hell am I so pissed off? How come we're fighting over nothing, hmm?" he said angrily.  
  
"Because you don't understand-"  
  
"So do I mean nothing, too? Hell, why don't you just make out with everyone, girl, guy, Digimon, whatever, cause it all means nothing, right?"  
  
"No Koji! You're getting me all wrong. Please, just let me explain." Takuya was so exhausted and all he wanted to do was sit down. Koji didn't make any comment to this but just stared at him. Finally, he shoved Takuya up against a tree and let go, allowing Takuya to fall down against it.  
  
"Fine. Explain."  
  
Takuya gasped for air. Finding his breath, and his voice, he started, "We were about to leave the forest and head back to camp when she just grabbed me and kissed me. I wasn't expecting it and sure as hell didn't want it, so I shoved her away from me. I asked her why she had done it and she told me that she had thought that I had been thinking about her. She told me that she liked me and thought I felt the same for her, and I told her I didn't. It meant nothing. She now understands that I don't have romantic feelings for her."  
  
As he finished he looked up at Koji who was staring at him. "So?" Koji said shortly.  
  
"What do you mean so? So I didn't really kiss her and don't like her, it was all a big misunderstanding on her part."  
  
Koji just sighed. "You don't get it. It's not a question of why you kissed her or didn't kiss her or whatever; it's a question of why you didn't tell me. It's a question of trust, Takuya. So, why didn't you tell me?"  
  
Takuya just gawked at him. He had explained himself, and yet Koji was still mad at him.  
/ "It's a question of trust, Takuya." Oh brother/ he thought irritably. "What was there to tell? She came on to me, I denied her, end of story. Nothings gonna change because of that; everything's still the same between us. I still only have feelings for you; she just had the wrong idea. Me telling you would have accomplished nothing besides probably embarrassing Zoë, cause I'm sure you'd have wanted to talk with her about it. You might even have beat her up or something, I don't know."  
  
"Well, if you had told me, it would have saved both of us a lot of bruises."  
  
"I didn't expect you to find out!"  
  
Apparently, he had said the wrong thing, as Koji's stare turned to a narrow- eyed glare. "Obviously not. So were you just going to keep this from me forever?"  
  
"Yes!" Takuya cried. He still didn't understand what the big deal was. "If I'd have known that Zoë would get knocked on the head and blab, I would have told you sooner, but at the moment it seemed harmless."  
  
"Of course you hadn't expected me to find out, but things don't always happen as we plan. You should have solved this problem before it turned into one. I need to know I can trust you, Takuya. If I can't trust you..." His voice changed from angry to desperate. He was desperately trying to make Takuya understand something.  
  
"Koji, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But I can't honestly say that I understand why you're so upset. I mean, would you have told me something like that even if you knew it meant nothing?"  
  
"Yeah, actually, I would have. Even if I had thought it pointless to tell you in the first place, I would have. You know why? Because shit happens, and I would've known that sooner or later you'd find out. Takuya, even if you had thought that it was nothing, you should have told me. Like I said, I need to trust you. You don't understand-" he stopped abruptly.  
  
"What? I don't understand what, Koji?"  
  
"Nothing. I just want to know I can tr-"  
  
"No, Koji, tell me. If my telling you nothing was so important to you, why don't you tell me what 'nothing' is? You wouldn't want to be a hypocrite, now would you?"  
  
Koji glared at him but Takuya just glared back.  
  
"It's personal," he growled.  
  
Takuya let out a deep breath. "Tell me Koji. Let's start this whole trusting thing right now. I know that trust is important, but why is it so important to you? What don't I understand?"  
  
Koji did nothing for a minute, and then he did a very peculiar thing, something that Takuya thought he would never do: he chuckled. "You know, you're right. I would be a hypocrite if I didn't tell you 'nothing'. All right, then, I'll tell you. I was going to say that you don't understand why. And I'll tell you why. See....well," he took a deep breath, "my whole life, I've been lied to. First of all, just before I came to the Digital world, my father told me that I- I have a twin brother."  
  
Takuya gasped. "What! Why didn't you ever tell me? Why didn't he tell you before?"  
  
"Calm down. I never told anyone, well, because I never wanted to. It's not like I ever talked to anyone here anyways, so I'd have no reason to spill my guts to them, would I? Back to my story, as you can imagine, that news came as a major shock. But what came next was just as surprising, if not more. Well, I don't know my mother," his voice broke, and for a millisecond, Takuya thought he saw sadness on Koji's face, but Koji quickly replaced that look with his usual indifferent mask. "I've never known her. The reason for that is that just after my birth-and my brother's too, I guess- my mother and father got in a huge argument. I was told, by my father, that they had been growing apart ever since marriage, and after we were born it got too much to bear. They hated each other, though I don't know why. Anyways, my mother left my father and took Kouichi-that's what my father said my brother's name is- with her. But when I was growing up, I was always told that..that...that my mother was dead."  
  
Takuya blinked. How could anyone lie about someone's death?  
  
Koji's voice now became so monotone and expressionless that he could have been teaching algebra. "I believed that. I hated it, but because I loved and trusted my father so much, I believed that my mother was really dead. When I was eight, my father started dating. I didn't have a problem with that, because all I wanted was for him to be happy. I believed that he deserved happiness. When I was ten, my father's girlfriend became his wife, and my new 'mother'. I did have a hard time dealing with that, but I tried to be as nice to her as possible to make my father happy. A few months after their marriage, I was cleaning out the attic when I came across a letterbox. I searched through it to see of I could throw it out or not, when I found a letter from my mom. In it, she wrote that she needed money because she still owed her lawyer for their divorce trial and she needed to take care of her son, Kouichi. That's how I found out the truth.  
  
"I ran downstairs and yelled at my father, and then he told me everything. He would have never told me had I not found that letter. I would have gone through life thinking that my mother was dead, and never knowing I had a brother. I trusted my father. He used that trust against me. Ever since then, I've found it very difficult to trust people, to open up to them. That's why trust is so important to me, Takuya. I need..I need to be able to trust someone. I thought that maybe I had finally found someone that I could trust. I wasn't looking for a boyfriend in particular, just for someone I could trust- a friend, a relative, whatever. I just want...." tears filled his eyes, "someone I-I c-can," they streamed down his face, "I can trust!" he broke down completely.  
  
Takuya was stunned by Koji's sudden outburst of emotion. He had never seen the other boy let his guard down, and now, it seemed, the walls surrounding Koji had finally given way and all of Koji's pent-up feelings were pouring out of him. Takuya did the only thing he could think to do: he crawled over to Koji and wrapped his arms tightly around him. Koji's head fell onto his shoulder and he sobbed into Takuya's shirt. "I've been lied to m-m-my entire life! That's why I don't talk to people, cause I can't trust them! The only person I had ever trusted was my father, and look what came from that! Lies!"  
  
Takuya played with the ends of Koji's long hair. "You can trust me Koji. I'm sorry. I should have told you, you're right. But I would never hurt you- now that I know how important trust is to you, I'll tell you everything. Don't be afraid to trust me; I wont hurt you."  
  
And they sat like that, Koji curled up into Takuya, crying, for a very long time. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Yeah, sort of a sappy-chapter. Really dealt with trust issues. I don't know what I'm gonna do about Kouichi yet; I'll see if he fits in the story or not. R&R! 


	8. Chapter 8

Hey! Sorry about the wait for this chapter- I just started school on Tuesday, and I've had loads of work to do. Since I'm in school now, my chapters may take longer to post like this one did, but I'll work on it whenever I can.  
  
Crystal Ketchum- Thanks! I love to surprise people!  
  
CutieCherry- Isn't 'awing' a weird word? I've always thought so....  
  
Ningen- Yeah, I started this story when I had just started watching Digimon, so I know how you feel!  
  
Anime Writer- Yep, TX was fun! Ok, I'll try to do a half-chapter from Koji's POV, but it might be a few chapters before I do that.  
  
Alia Lowe- LOL, poor, young, naïve Tommy!  
  
The Anonymuss Monkey- Thanks! I feel special now ( ! I'll be sure not to make J.P. sound like too much of an idiot for ya!  
  
Loner Fox- Your mom would love this!  
  
Hyper Pegesus- Sure you can print it! Um, maybe you should get a band aid- a really big one.  
  
Takouji-Kanbara- I felt bad for him, too. It wasn't his fault, after all. It was Zoë's {eye twitches}.  
  
"....." speaking /....../ thinking  
  
Takuya's POV  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Taming the Wild  
Wicchick  
  
Takuya jumped as he felt movement in his arms, but relaxed when he realized that it was just Koji stirring. He gave a small sigh of relief, and whispered, "Koji?"  
  
Koji sleepily looked up into Takuya's eyes. He had fallen asleep after crying, and though Takuya had been uncomfortable in his sitting position, he hadn't had the heart to move for fear of waking up his boyfriend.  
  
"Koji, I think we should get back to camp. We've been gone for quite a while."  
  
Koji groaned, obviously still being tired, so Takuya stood and forcefully lifted him up by his arm. "Want me to carry you there, too?" he grinned.  
  
Koji glared at him and mumbled that he was fine and still had the ability to walk. "Besides," he added, "if anyone needs carrying, it's you. Just look at yourself."  
  
Takuya didn't respond to this, and walked towards the camp in silent musing, with Koji trudging along behind him. After they got out of the thick forest, Takuya stopped and scanned the area, trying to remember which way he had come from. Just as he spotted the familiar cave and was about to start off in that direction, Koji grabbed him from around the waist and pulled Takuya up against his body. "Mmmmm" he moaned, "can't we just stay here? I don't want to go back to having to ignore you."  
  
"No," Takuya protested, "the others will be worried, you know that. They might even be searching for us right now, for all we know. We have to go back now."  
  
Koji spun Takuya around and whispered seductively, "Maybe I can change your mind," and before Takuya could protest further, he quickly slipped his tongue into his mouth. Takuya weakly tried to pull away, but then gave in to the kiss. It felt so warm and inviting....  
  
He briefly remembered their first kiss, and then realized that they hadn't made out since. And that was just awful!  
  
His thoughts returned to the present where Koji was planting kisses all over Takuya's neck. He grinned and allowed Koji to push him up against a tree as Takuya slinked his arms around Koji's waist.  
  
"Alright, I guess we can wait a little...." Takuya sighed.  
  
Koji drew back from Takuya's neck to laugh.  
  
"Hey!" Takuya complained. "I didn't want you to stop!"  
  
Koji stopped laughing, but with a smile on his face, turned to Takuya and replied, "Sorry, love."  
  
"Oh brother!"  
  
Koji grinned and resumed his activity of sucking Takuya's neck.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The two guys paused just outside of camp, still panting. Neither of them had wanted to go back, and one would keep telling the other that they had to go, but they both hadn't been in agreement at the same time until both of them had run out of saliva. They gave each other a quick look, and walked into the camp.  
  
The others were still awake, and the first to greet them was J.P.  
  
"Taki! Koji! Oh, Taki, I'm so, SOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! I-I was an idiot, I know, but my emotions just took control of me and- I s-shouldn't have- Zoë explained it all when she woke, you were right-uh- you can beat me up if you want!" he said in a desperate attempt to redeem himself.  
  
Takuya, who was still pissed off at him for good reason, coldly replied, "No thanks, I don't sink that low."  
  
J.P. blushed and looked down, mumbling another sorry. Then, Zoë came up to them.  
  
"Where have you guys been? I heard you both ran off sometime while I was out. Why did you leave?"  
  
"I can definitely tell you're feeling better," said Takuya, smiling at her. His smile left his face just as suddenly as it had come when Zoë raised her eyebrows, obviously expecting an answer to her questions. /Just lie, lie, lie/ he told himself, hoping the message would be telepathically sent to Koji. "Uh-I-I," he stuttered before thinking of the perfect excuse. "Well, I just wanted to get away from J.P." It hadn't been a complete lie, just not the complete truth. He had desperately wanted to get away from J.P. for sure, but also needed to speak to Koji.  
  
"And you?" she asked Koji.  
  
"When I saw that you had been hurt, I ran around the area to see if there were any other evil Digimon about," he lied smoothly. "I had gotten lost but I saw Takuya later on, and he had gotten lost, too. We were both tired so we slept for a few hours before looking for our way back."  
  
/Man, he's good!/  
  
"Oh. Well, I'm glad you're both okay. Did you find any other? Evil Digimon, I mean."  
  
"No, we're safe enough for now. I didn't get to look too far though; I have a feeling that I was just running around in circles, so it's very possible that they're here and I just haven't seen them," Koji answered, making sure not to be the one marked responsible if there were any other evil Digimon.  
  
"Gosh, Takuya, you look awful!" Zoë shrieked after taking a proper look at the two of them. "And Koji, you look like you could use some sleep. Your eyes are a vivid red! Here, why don't you guys both eat something first, then you can clean your wounds, Takuya, and both of you can go to sleep."  
  
They nodded their agreement. Zoë told them that while they were gone, a Trailmon passed by. The Trailmon had been taking several Burgermon somewhere, and the Burgermon came out to say hello and graciously gave them food.  
  
She handed them their burgers and then she, Tommy, J.P., Bokomon, and Neemon joined them for dinner. J.P. kept quiet the whole time, but Bokomon asked them about what they had seen while they were lost. Takuya and Koji honestly told him about the vast forest, but avoided answering questions that would get them found out.  
  
Seeing as everyone had been up for nearly two days and Takuya and Koji had been walking around, beating each other up, and making out for a long time, everyone was understandably tired. Takuya fulfilled his promise to Zoë, and cleaned his wounds using a rag and water from a nearby pond. It was nearly dawn by the time everyone was settling down for bed and it was a tacit fact that they would be sleeping through the day. Everyone was lying down in their usual sleeping spots, though they were all still awake, and Takuya was about to lie down besides Koji and talk to him when Zoë called to him. Looking up, he sleepily murmured a "hmmm?"  
  
"What's that? There's a swollen red spot on your neck!"  
  
Takuya's heart skipped a beat as his brain told him what it was. "U-uh...."  
  
The others sat up in their spots to see, except Koji who sat up and stared at the others, trying to think of a lie.  
  
"Yeah, I see it!" squealed Tommy. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"  
  
Takuya tripped over his words and covered the mark with a hand. "N-no, I'm fine. Must be...a bug bite or something! Yeah, that's probably what it is! Not to worry-" but Bokomon and Zoë were already coming up to him. Takuya and Koji also stood up, and under his breath, Takuya whispered "Nice going, Koji!"  
  
"Hey!" Koji replied quietly, "You're the one who asked me not to stop!"  
  
Takuya groaned. "I didn't think you'd give me a hickey!"  
  
As Bokomon reached them, he grabbed Takuya's T-Shirt and brought him down closer for inspection. "Remove your hand, I'd better check just to make sure....better to be safe than sorry, you know."  
  
"I'm okay! It's just a bite"  
  
"Yes, well, who knows what kind of strange creatures lurk in this place!" argued Bokomon. He successfully removed Takuya's hand and studied the spot. "Let me think-it doesn't look like a normal bite to me."  
  
/You'd better get yourself out of this!!!/ "Uh, maybe it's just a bruise from when J.P. hit me," he said, pointing at J.P. and trying to distract them from his neck.  
  
J.P., who by now had also come for a closer look along with Tommy and Neemon, looked down at the ground shamefully, but quickly lifted his head again. "Hey! I don't remember hitting you in the neck!"  
  
"Yeah, well, how would you remember? You were to busy beating me up!" replied Takuya hotly. This had the desired affect. Everyone's attention was shifted from Takuya's neck to his anger. Bokomon said a quiet "Calm down, Takuya. He's apologized."  
  
J.P. mumbled, "I guess you're right; maybe I just don't remember."  
  
Tommy gulped and Neemon yelled, "Why's everyone so quiet? Where's my pants! Oh.."  
  
Zoë tried to soothe the atmosphere by saying, "Look, we're all tired. Why don't we all just go to bed?"  
  
Takuya angrily grumbled something before lying back down. Koji followed suit. The others looked at each other, unsure of what to do, and wondering if they should try to calm Takuya down or wait until the morning to see if he was in a better mood to talk about it. Finally, Tommy, J.P., Bokomon, and Neemon tentatively laid back down in their sleeping spots, and with one last, curious glance at Takuya's neck, Zoë did the same.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Whew! Almost got caught there, didn't they? Man, Zoë really needs to mind her own business. What a brown-nosed prick! Anyways, hope you enjoyed! 


	9. Chapter 9

Note: There will be a temporary shortage of fluff due to the need of plot reinforcements. Yes, I know-BIG WORDS. To break it down so that you're puny minds can comprehend (no offense, earthlings), I want this story to have a stronger plot line. So, this chapter will mainly focus on the chosen children in general and their overall mission to save the Digital World. I'll zoom into points about the five kids trying to connect with the natural powers of the Digital World (that must be getting old), so if there's a lack of fluff in this chapter, don't fret. It will reappear and possibly even heighten in future chapters. Now that I've explained that, enjoy!  
  
kellyQ- Yeah, I hate it when people are mad at each other. But, what can you do, right?  
  
clueless97- Updating is good!!!  
  
Anime Writer2- Thanks! Um, I don't really know how long it'll be, but I want it to have a plot and not just be a pointless fluff fic. Glad you like it so far!  
  
Takouji-Kanbara- Sorry it takes longer for me to update now. High skool's a killer.  
  
Crystal Ketchum Darklight- I think I'm turning everyone against Zoë!! Hehehe, whoops!  
  
Splash-Yaoiluv- hehehe..thanks for the review! I'll update whenever I can!  
  
"speaking" /thinking/  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Takuya's POV  
  
Taming the Wild  
Wicchick  
  
Morning came, and Takuya's temper (as well as his hickey, which had turned purple) had calmed down considerably. In fact, he felt almost peaceful as he was lying down besides Koji and listening to the birds tweeting. His stomach grumbled as a delicious scent reached his nose, and he calmly propped himself up on his elbows and took a look around. Zoë was cooking something over the fire in a cleared-out area in the camp, and by the looks of it, Tommy was attempting to help, but only succeeded in making a mess of himself. His white shirt was stained with various colors.  
  
"Tommy! Look at yourself!" Zoë said, giggling. "Thanks for your help, but I'm almost done now. Why don't you wash up by the nearest pond? Oh, your up!" she added, having just spotted Takuya.  
  
"Yep. Watcha cookin'? Smells great!"  
  
"I'm not really sure. Just sort of made up my own recipe, incorporating whatever we have. There're some nuts and berries, and I was just making a sort of fruit porridge. Wanna try some?"  
  
"Mmmmm! Yes, please!" Takuya sprung to his feet and walked over towards Zoë. A loud yawn from behind announced that someone was waking up, and it was J.P. He too moaned at the smell of the warm porridge, and, like Takuya, hastily got up.  
  
"Hey," Takuya said to him quietly.  
  
J.P. looked surprised that Takuya had said something civil to him, and slowly replied with a "Good Morning."  
  
Takuya, who was feeling ashamed of himself for blowing up the night before, reached his hand out and said, "What do you say we forget anything bad ever happened? Friends?"  
  
J.P. grinned, took Takuya's hand, and agreed, "Friends."  
  
"Awww! How cute!" shrieked Zoë.  
  
"Oh brother," said Takuya and J.P. in unison.  
  
"I'll third that," said a voice from behind. The three turned around and saw Koji.  
  
"Hey buddy! Sleep well?" Takuya asked cheerfully.  
  
"Like the dead. What're we having here?"  
  
"Some of my homemade fruit porridge!" Zoë answered proudly.  
  
A minute later, Tommy came back looking clean, but wet. Zoë Spirit Evolved into Kazemon and used her "Hurricane Wave!" to dry him off. Bokomon and Neemon also emerged from the thick forest, and told the humans that they had gone for a walk earlier that morning. Finally, they all sat down together and enjoyed their breakfast. Zoë's porridge turned out great even though she had never made it before and had had to improvise on some of the ingredients.  
  
"So, guys, what should we do today?" said Takuya, resuming his normal leadership role.  
  
"I know this may sound old," started Bokomon, "but I really suggest that you once again try to accomplish the task that Ophanimon gave you all."  
  
"Then that's what we'll do! I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting pretty anxious just waiting here, doing nothing. I feel like we should be out fighting Digimon and trying to save this world!" Takuya agreed, standing up to face the others.  
  
The rest of them nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah," began Tommy, "we don't even know what's going on out there! For all we know, this could be the only place still existent in the Digital World."  
  
"It's settled then. C'mon, guys. Let's not waste any more time. Ophanimon gave us a task, and we've got to try our best to complete it! Let's all separate this time; we know the area pretty well by now, so we shouldn't have any trouble finding our way back to camp. Let's meet back here at sundown."  
  
The rest of the group also stood, and one by one, left the camp area. Takuya was glad that Zoë hadn't argued with him about them all going off on their own. The last thing he wanted was alone time with her, and even if he went with Koji, he'd never be able to concentrate. He decided that this time, he'd try a new direction, and instead of going to the familiar cave or dense part of the forest, he headed over to a small mountain cliff. It took him a while to get there, but he didn't go very high, and when he found a decent-looking spot, he stopped and sat down. He leaned against the side of the mountain and observed the scenery. From his altitude (which wasn't all that high, but still higher than level ground), he could see a few small ponds and rivers. He briefly saw Koji, but then lost sight of him as Koji was hidden from view by the many trees.  
  
Sighing happily, he laid down with his hands behind his head. It was really a gorgeous day-the sun was high, but a few puffy, white clouds and frequent breezes kept him cool. His thoughts melted away, and he went into a peaceful reverie. He was happy. He was settled. He was calm, rested, collected. He felt very present. He could almost feel the energy of the Digital World running through his veins: vibrant, blissful, beautiful- stormy, deteriorating, panicked, chaotic.  
  
He rose abruptly with a short gasp. Something wasn't right. He could feel it, sense it, almost like he was a part of it. He was connected with the Digital World. And the Digital World was in turmoil.  
  
Thinking quickly, he reached for his D-Tector and used it to summon the others. He waited impatiently for them to receive the message, and moments later they were all climbing to were he sat, followed closely by Bokomon and Neemon.  
  
"What's up, T?" Zoë asked. "I got a signal from my D-Tector and it pointed me in this direction.  
  
"I know. Listen guys, I called for all of you, because-well, can't you feel it?"  
  
The others looked at him oddly. Letting out a long breath of frustration, Takuya tried to explain. "I think I've finally done what Ophanimon wanted us to do; I think I've become connected with the Digital World. It's weird, but I can almost feel what's going on out there, and it's not good. When we left for this place, do you guys remember what was going on?"  
  
"Of course we do! We had just defeated Terrormon and finished rebuilding the Digital cities that he had destroyed. Then there was that one guy-what was his name? Right, Destructomon! Well, he was trying to destroy us and then we got Ophanimon's message to come here, and that's pretty much it, right?" Tommy answered. (A/N: read my explanation at the end)  
  
"Right. But I have a feeling that the reason Ophanimon sent us here in the first place was because she thought we couldn't defeat Destructomon. And she was probably right-at the time, we were all too weak. But now we're all rested, plus I feel like I have a deeper connection with this world. I know that right now, Destructomon is causing mayhem in this world! We have to get out of here before anything else goes wrong. We have to stop Destructomon!"  
  
The six listeners stared back at Takuya with wide-opened mouths and blank expressions.  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Koji suddenly said, snapping the others out of their thoughts. "Let's find a Trailmon to take us out of here. Takuya, since you're the only one who's connected with the Digital World, can you sense were Destructomon is?"  
  
Takuya wasn't sure if he could or not. /I'll never know unless I try..here it goes./ He closed his eyes and tried to hold onto the connected feeling he had. He could feel the world....could sense trouble...but where was it coming from?  
  
/Just relax and try to focus, Takuya/ he told himself. /OK, it's getting stronger...I can feel the danger more close by.../ "There!" he exclaimed, pointing in a Northeastern direction. "I feel trouble just over there, and I sense that Destructomon is there right now! We have to find a Trailmon......" he closed his eyes and left his sentence hanging. "Alright. Follow me, guys," he finished, not caring to explain.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
"Whoa, Takuya! You did it! Man, I have a feeling I'm gonna like you're newfound abilities!" J.P. said happily as the gang stood face to metal face of an impatient looking Trailmon.  
  
"Ah, I feel so proud. Ophanimon must be very pleased with you, Takuya," Bokomon said in a tear-filled voce.  
  
The Trailmon seemed to have just noticed them, and let out a whistle. "Finally! I thought you blasted kids would never show up!"  
  
"Dude, what are you talking about?" Takuya asked, clearly confused that the Trailmon seemed to have been waiting on them.  
  
"Never mind, never mind, no time for small talk! Just get on! You've got a world to save and we've got to get going!"  
  
"Heh, no kidding." Takuya signaled the OK for the others to get inside the Trailmon. "Since you seem to know so much, mind telling me where you're gonna take us?"  
  
"That's pretty obvious, isn't it? Where else would I take you but where the evil is- Cyber Port City!"  
  
"Oh, uh, right. Why didn't I think of that?" Takuya also got inside, and just as he climbed in, the Trailmon door slammed shut and the Trailmon started up the track at a bullet-pace, sending Takuya flying across the inside of it. Not unusual for the goggle-boy, he landed on his head. Rubbing it, he stood up and walked over to where the others were seated  
  
They all looked just as confused as he felt. Everything was happening so suddenly now. "Well, I...uh, to tell the truth, I have no idea what's going on. This is all sorta being rushed. I guess we'll just have to wait till we get to Cyber Port City to find out anything. Bokomon, what do you know about that place?"  
  
"Not too much, other than it is a large city. If Destructomon wanted to cause trouble and panic, that would be an ideal place to start it because of its size."  
  
"Oh, great. I hope he hasn't done too much damage to it already," Takuya sighed. From where he stood, he looked around and spotted Koji sitting by himself in a corner seat and staring out of a window. Takuya slightly grinned as he remembered that Koji had also been all by himself on their journey to the place that they were now leaving.  
  
/Some things never change. Unless, of course, I step in and change them!/ He calmly strolled over to Koji and plopped down besides him. Koji took no notice of this and continued staring out of the window, but the others stared in shock. This alone pleased Takuya.  
  
/I wonder what's going through their minds right now.../  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Ok! Now to explain what's going on:  
  
An evil Digimon named Terrormon had been destroying the Digital World, so the kids defeated him and helped rebuild the places he had destroyed. Then, another Digimon named Destructomon came about, and he also wanted to destroy everything, but before the kids got a chance to fight him, Ophanimon sent them a message and they were taken to that calm forest place. The point of going there was for them to rest and get in tune with the 'natural powers of the Digital World'. As you can see, only Takuya has done that. And now, they're on the way to a place called Cyber Port City to find Destructomon and try to defeat him so the Digital World can finally be in peace.  
  
I'm sure you've already guessed that I only just decided the plot for this, so that's why it's a little confusing right now. But the Takuya/Koji relationship is also what the plot is about, so I'll be getting back to that soon. And later on, Kouichi will make an appearance, but it will probably be at the very end and it will only be brief. I may just say that the twins met, unless something changes, so for now, he's not a major character in this story.  
  
Sorry about all that extra reading! I'll try to update soon, but I myself am confused about where I'm going with this. Hope I didn't ruin it! More Takouji to come! 


	10. Chapter 10

kellyQ- Second thoughts? Oh, about going to Cyber Port City? If that's what you meant, then no, they're definitely gonna have to go there (cause I definitely need a change of setting for my story!).  
  
Chibi Excel- Oooh, might wanna watch out for that wall.....Oh yes, high school really is evil-glad you agree! Let's rebel! A nation-wide student rebellion against high school! And, if that doesn't work, we can kick all the high schools and laugh at them until they feel embarrassed and run away and hide......wear metal-tipped shoes and meet me outside!  
  
Dreamer- Hehehe.....yep, it should be fun! Don't know when I'll get to that part....probably very soon!  
  
Midnight Fairy- Okay, okay, okay! LOL, thanks for reviewing!!!  
  
dragi- Thanks for the good luck wishes, and I'll update as often as I can, which, like I've mentioned before, sadly wont be that often because of school!  
  
Crystal Ketchum Darklight- Ichido? Cool! That sounds like the name of one of the characters in Kikaider-actually, that is one of their names, I think!  
  
************************************************************************  
To my reviewers,  
  
Hey guys, thanks a lot for your reviews! This chapter is  
dedicated to everyone whose ever reviewed one or more of my  
chapters- I really, truly appreciate it and it makes me feel  
happy that you guys enjoy my fanfic! OK, I'll stop with the  
mushy stuff! Just wanted to let you all know how much your  
reviews mean to me. Thanks!  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Wicchick ************************************************************************  
  
"speaking" /thinking/  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Takuya's POV  
  
Taming the Wild  
  
Wicchick  
  
/All right, it was fun at first, but now this is getting ridiculous! What's the big deal? I don't get it!/  
  
Takuya was finally getting fed up with how J.P., Zoë, Tommy, and Bokomon were staring at him. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since he had taken a seat besides Koji (whom, by the way, still preferred to act oblivious to Takuya) and the other three kids and Bokomon had been staring in nonplussed silence ever since.  
  
/At least Neemon isn't acting weird about it.heh, that's kinda ironic. Maybe it is a bigger deal than I thought it was. Neemon's usually the oblivious one anyways, so maybe this does seem weird. Koji, do something!/  
  
"Ehem, K-Koji?" Takuya whispered, leaning over to be able to see the other boy's face. Koji blinked. "Koji?" he tried again. Nothing. Koji just continued to stare out the window. /Grrrrrrrr/ "KOJI!" Takuya screamed in his face, and Koji, acting as though he had just noticed him there for the first time, slowly turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Thank the heavens! I was starting to think there was something wrong with you! Why were you ignoring me?"  
  
"I wasn't ignoring you," Koji began in a calm voice, "I just didn't feel like talking. And I still don't," he added snappishly.  
  
"Sheesh, what's up with you? Anyways," Takuya lowered his voice to a whisper, "I was just wondering if you've noticed how the others are all staring at us....besides Neemon, that is."  
  
"Obviously they find the fact that you came and sat down by me very surprising."  
  
"Well, yeah! I could've told you that! But, what's the big deal? Even if I wasn't hopelessly in love with you," Koji again raised his eyebrow at this, "it still wouldn't seem odd, right? Can't a guy sit by his friend anymore?"  
  
"Well, seeing as we had never been friends until we became boyfriends, and seeing as they don't know we're together, I guess it would seem odd. They think I'm a depressed, mean loner who hates everyone, and you're the exact opposite. So, they probably think you're-I don't know, brave or something, for sitting next to me. They think you risked getting you're head bitten off.....and it must seem weird to them that I have yet to do that."  
  
"Uh, oh. Right. Well, then, maybe we should work on your attitude a bit."  
  
"Eh? How d'you reckon?"  
  
"Well," Takuya said thoughtfully, "I think you're right about why you think they're staring at us with their mouths hanging open. And I know that they think you're a loner who hates us all.....you sorta have that aura about you, see....so, maybe if we work to fix that so that you seem nicer, well, we could get away with more stuff....like for one, me sitting next to and chatting with you."  
  
"So you think I need a personality makeover, do you?" said Koji, with the slightest trace of a grin on his face.  
  
"Sure! It'd be fun, and then when the others see how nice you really are, they'll talk to you more and like you better!"  
  
"I'm nice? Wow, I really do need to work on my personality then..."  
  
"Hey! I think it's good that you're nice- you know, deep, deep down there...somewhere....er, so what do you say? Wanna start right now by going over and talking to the others?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Aww, c'mon Koji! Why not?"  
  
"No. I neither want nor need their company. I have you, anyways."  
  
"Well you're right about that," Takuya said with a sly grin. He looked at Koji who looked as though the last thing he would do would be to willingly talk with the others. Letting out a deep breath, Takuya added, "Fine. Whatever. I can see that I'm not going to get you near the other guys without the use of a collar, a chain, and some heavy artillery, and seeing as I've left all that stuff at home....maybe I'll try to persuade you to go over there later."  
  
"Sure. You can try."  
  
"Besides, I kind of like having you all to myself....." Takuya saw Koji smile as he said this, but then Koji tried to hide it by turning his face away and staring out the window again.  
  
Takuya sighed happily. /Yep, all mine. I wish the others would look away so I could hug him. Oh, I would LOVE to hug him right now!/ he groaned with longing and turned away from Koji, fearing that if he looked at him any longer he would just give in and embrace him. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
"OW!" Takuya said irritably as he was woken with a start by a nudge in the ribs. Mumbling angrily under his breath, he turned to look at the minor- pain inflictor, Koji. "What?" he said coldly.  
  
"Just wanted to let you know that we're coming close to the Cyber Port City Station- by the way, are you aware of the fact that you have a horrible drooling problem?"  
  
Takuya followed Koji's eyes to Koji's right shoulder, where a small puddle of drool had accumulated. In answer to Takuya's confused gaze, Koji explained, "You fell asleep on my shoulder a while ago. Being the gentleman that I am, I chose not to disturb you, even when you starting drooling."  
  
Takuya flushed and used his red over-shirt sleeve to wipe away the wet on Koji's shoulder, and sheepishly said sorry. Koji made a deep, guttural sound that Takuya took for a laugh, and said, "Don't worry about it. You sleep like a little angel," he added sarcastically.  
  
Takuya glared evilly up at him. "What can I say? I need my beauty sleep, and those less fortunate than I must contribute to allowing me my rest."  
  
Koji definitely laughed this time. "No way. I'm definitely the beauty of the pair."  
  
/You bet you are....mmmmmmmm/ "Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Suddenly remembering that they weren't the only two kids on the Trailmon, Takuya hastily glanced around. Luckily, the three other kids were sleeping, and the two Digimon were nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where'd Bokomon and Neemon go?"  
  
"Hm? Oh, I don't think they could stand the site of my beautiful face anymore......hey! Fine, they're searching this Trailmon to see if any other Digimon are on it," he answered, after getting punched on the arm by Takuya.  
  
"OK. Uh, no one saw me sleeping on you're shoulder, did they?"  
  
"Are you kidding? I have an image to maintain, you know. I'm mean and hate you, remember?"  
  
"Right." Takuya yawned and stretched out his arms and legs from where he was seated. "Looks like we're here. Help me wake them up," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the three sleeping kids. He stood and walked over to them, reaching Tommy first. "Wake up, buddy. We're here."  
  
"Oh, five more minutes, Mom!"  
  
Koji walked up besides Takuya, grabbed Tommy's shoulders, and shook him vigorously. "Wake up, twit."  
  
"Hey! Be gentle, he's just a kid!"  
  
"Ahhhh! Koji, gees! You scared me!"  
  
"I'm sure I did. Want me to wake up the others?" he asked, grinning at Takuya who huffed and responded, "Just leave it to me." But he didn't need to wake Zoë and J.P.-Tommy's scream had shaken them awake, too.  
  
"Great! You're all up." Takuya walked over to the door separating the compartments of the Trailmon and opened it, looking for the two Digimon. He found them, and they were not alone. A group of seven brightly-colored Digimon, each a different color, was talking to Bokomon and Neemon as though telling them something very urgent. Bokomon nodded repeatedly, his eyes slightly bulging, and blindly led the other Digimon over the threshold to where Takuya and the rest of the kids were now standing. He looked up with a start when Takuya closed the door behind them. "Oh, good, you're here."  
  
"What's up?" Takuya asked.  
  
Before Bokomon could answer, a booming voice yelled, "Are you gonna get off or not? I haven't got all day you know! I've got a schedule to keep to!"  
  
"Sorry, Trailmon!" Takuya and the others got off the Trailmon and onto the platform of Cyber Port City Station as the Trailmon hurriedly left.  
  
"Everyone, these are Neonmon, one of the many residential groups here at Cyber Port City," Bokomon began immediately. "They've been updating me on what's been going on around here. You were right, Takuya, Destructomon is definitely here and causing trouble. In short, he's hurting Digimon and stealing their Fractal Code to make himself more powerful. These Neonmon believe that he wants to be the supreme ruler of the Digital World and as I'm sure you can guess, that wouldn't be good for any of the Digimon. He has been meeting opposition, though; random Digimon who strive to protect this world are fighting him and gathering others to join them. If it wasn't for them, this place would be much worse off."  
  
"Where is he? Do you have any idea?" Takuya asked.  
  
One of the Neonmon, a vivid-green one, spoke up in a high-pitched voice. "We don't know exactly where in the city he is-it's a very large city, mind you- but he can't be hard to track down because he leaves traces wherever he goes."  
  
"What kind of traces?"  
  
"Ruined buildings, demolished areas, and other such things. Just follow the sound of the screaming Digimon, that should lead you right to him."  
  
"Follow the screaming Digimon, follow the screaming Digimon...," Neemon said in a singsong voice. The others turned and glared at him. "What?"  
  
Takuya turned back to the green Neonmon. "Can you tell us anything else that might be helpful in fighting him?"  
  
"Not much, other than he's very strong. Because of all the Fractal Code he's gotten, I think he might even be invincible."  
  
"Heh, we've heard that a million times before, and it's never stopped us from kicking evil Digi-ass. If anyone can beat him, it's us, right guys!"  
  
The kids all fervently "mm-hmm'ed" their agreement.  
  
"Great! OK, where do we go now, uh, Green Neonmon?"  
  
"Like I said, just follow the traces. But to get away from this station and actually get into the city, just go that way," he said, pointing in a northern direction.  
  
"Can do. Thanks for the heads up, guys! And don't worry, as long as we're around, you got nothing to fear!"  
  
"We trust in you!" the green Neonmon said. "You're reputation precedes you, you know.....good luck!" All the Neonmon waved good-bye as Takuya led the other kids and the two Digimon into Cyber Port City. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Panting slightly from all the walking they had done, Takuya happily announced, "Finally! We're here, guys!"  
  
They were standing in front of a large metal sign that read: WELCOME TO CYBER PORT CITY. They walked past the sign and found themselves in the middle of a bustling city.  
  
"Wow! Look at all those buildings! This is definitely the most high-tech Digimon city we've been to!" Zoë said in an awed voice.  
  
"Actually, the most high-tech city in the world-both Digital and human," informed Bokomon. "In fact, this is the same city in which your D-Tectors were manufactured. Ophanimon asked some trustworthy workers from one of the communication factories here to make them for you all. As soon as you entered the Digital World, your cell phones received the data that was pre- produced here which upgraded and transformed them to look the way they do now."  
  
"Awesome! In that case, we have even more of a reason to save this city," started J.P. "We owe this place, big time! It's our duty to give back to the community that helped make our Evolutions possible, after all."  
  
"Right you are! Man, is it cold here or what?" Takuya wrapped his red over- shirt more closely around him. "I don't know about you guys, but I sure don't hear any screaming."  
  
"Yeah, neither do I. But this city is so noisy, we could never tell anyways," replied Zoë, stifling a yawn. "I can't believe I'm tired already! And I just slept on the Trailmon......"  
  
"I know what you mean," said Koji. Takuya started when he spoke-Koji had been so quiet the whole time they had been walking that he had almost forgotten he was still with them. "I'm wiped out myself."  
  
Zoë smiled at him. It seemed that she, too, was surprised by him speaking to her.  
  
/Hehehe, looks like Koji really does want these guys to talk to him. And he said he didn't want their company.../  
  
They walked on, passing buildings, stores, factories, and homes. They were so amazed by the advanced scenery that it was a minute before they realized someone was calling out to them.  
  
"Warriors! Oh, I knew it was you-Bokomon, Neemon, how are you two?" A plump woman Digimon who looked to be of the same structure as Bokomon was running up to them and waving. Bokomon concentrated, and then with a short gasp, said, "Mamomon? How are you! It's been ages!"  
  
Mamomon hugged him, then Neemon, and then turned to the Warrior Children. "You must be the five Legendary Warriors! I've seen you before, you know! I watched you defeat Terrormon!"  
  
"Oh-er-that's cool," said Takuya, unsure of how to reply. He had never seen this Digimon before, but she had obviously seen him.  
  
"Oh, but of course you couldn't know who I am. We never met. I'm a friend of Bokomon and Neemon's. We come from the same village, you know. Born and bred together-well, what I mean to say is that we've known each other for quite a long time. So, what brings you to the city?"  
  
"Haven't you heard? Don't you know that Destructomon is here?" asked Bokomon.  
  
"Goodness gracious, yes! How could I not? He's been ruining the city, and ruining Digimon lives....but of course, that's why you're here, isn't it? Because of Destructomon?"  
  
Takuya answered her question. "Of course. We're just looking for him right now. Some Neonmon back at this city's Trailmon station told us to just listen for sounds of screaming Digimon, and that'd lead us right to him. We're here to fight him, if we can find him."  
  
"Well, I doubt you'll have much luck right now. This is a nightlife city, and it's pretty late right now, so you wont be able to hear any screaming. It's much quieter in the day. Besides, wouldn't you rather rest? I'm guessing you've walked here from the station, correct?" Takuya nodded. "Oh, then you must be tired! I wont here of you going of to find him just yet- better to wait and rest so that you can gather your strength to fight him, rather than go after him right now when you're already quite worn out. You want to fight him when you have the advantage. And I know that at this time, other Digimon are doing a good job of keeping him too occupied with them to do any more harm to the city for the time being. By the time you get to him tomorrow, he should be well worn out. Come on then, follow me and I'll take you to my house where you kids can eat and rest."  
  
The invitation sounded rather, well, inviting. And it did make sense-if they went after Destructomon now, they'd be too tired to give it there all. Plus, other Digimon were keeping him busy for the time being, so they didn't have to worry about protecting the city from damage. Takuya looked around at the others, who all seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he was. Turning back to Mamomon, Takuya nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Mamomon! This is really generous of you!"  
  
"Nonsense! After all, I need you children to protect the city of my new home, not to mention my family! Did I tell you that I have eight little ones? Well, they're not exactly little anymore...they're among the Digimon who are doing their best to fight Destructomon right now. Anyways, follow me." The chosen children followed closely behind Mamomon, who first asked all their names, and then kept busy catching up with Neemon and Bokomon. After a very brief walk (especially compared to how log they had been walking all day) they reached a cozy-looking house that didn't fit in with the high-tech city surroundings.  
  
"My children and I built this house ourselves," Mamomon said lovingly. "I know it's more of the sort of house you'd find in the place I grew up, but it makes me feel so much more at home."  
  
"It's really lovely," said Tommy. "I can't believe you built it yourself!"  
  
"Yes, it is something. Ah, well enough boasting, come in, come in!" She led them inside the house. It felt as warm on the inside as it looked on the outside. While everyone sat in wooden chairs around a fireplace, Mamomon heated up some soup and made sandwiches. The kids helped her set the table, and when everything was prepared they all sat down together. Mamomon raised her glass of water in a toast and said, "To the five Legendary Warriors. May they restore this world to it's natural peace and beauty." Bokomon and Neemon also raised their glasses, and the five kids beamed. They conversed while they dined and when everyone was comfortably full, they cleared the table and followed Mamomon upstairs.  
  
"Like I said before, my eight children are out keeping Destructomon from causing harm to this city right now, so you should have enough beds to sleep in....there are four rooms, not including mine, with two beds in each. How should we do this...ah, Bokomon and Neemon, you two can share one room, Zoë dear, I think since you're the only girl, you should have your own room.....and you boys can split up however you like."  
  
The four boys all stared at each other, then J.P. said, "Hey Tommy, why don't we bunk in the same room?"  
  
"Sure!"  
  
Tommy headed off towards one of the rooms while J.P. strolled over to Takuya and whispered, "Sorry to make you bunk with Koji, but it seems to me that for whatever reason, you're the only one he can stand. I don't think he'd take kindly to me or Tommy sleeping in the same room as him."  
  
"Don't worry about it. Actually, I think you're right," Takuya said. /You don't know how right you are!/  
  
J.P. walked into the same room that Tommy had gone into. Mamomon, Zoë, Bokomon and Neemon had also already gone into their rooms, so Takuya led Koji into the last remaining bedroom.  
  
"Well, this certainly turned out for the better," Takuya said happily to Koji.  
  
"Things usually do," replied Koji. Grinning madly, both boys entered the room and closed the door shut behind them. They switched on a light, and saw that the room was bare except for two single-person beds on either end.  
  
"I have an idea!" Takuya said excitedly. He walked over to one of the beds and dragged it to the center of the room. He then did the same to the other, so that both beds were connected. He looked up at Koji who smiled and came towards him.  
  
"You're a clever one."  
  
"Shut up!" Takuya, who was about to pass out from exhaustion, paused to take off his sneakers, gloves, goggles, and hat. Koji also took off his shoes and pulled the bandana off his head, but left his hair up in a ponytail. Both boys flopped simultaneously onto the beds. They pulled the covers over them, and turned to face each other.  
  
/Damn it, he's so hot!/ Remembering how much he'd wanted to hug Koji earlier on the Trailmon, Takuya wrapped his arms around the other boy. Koji turned from Takuya so that he could relax into the embrace. Even though there was a small crack between the two joined beds, they managed to get comfortable and nice and warm.  
  
Takuya snuggled up against Koji and hid his head in the other boy's back. He moaned out loud, and then heard Koji laugh. "What? Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to do this? I though I was gonna explode....."  
  
"No, it's just- well, it's like you were saying on the Trailmon. The others all think I hate everyone, including you. The irony of it all is that instead of hating you, I feel the exact opposite. I mean, well......I love you."  
  
Takuya's heart skipped a beat. Sure, Koji had really warmed up to him, but Takuya always thought he'd be the first to say those words. /I can't believe he just said that! He's really changing...../ "I love you too, Koji."  
  
Takuya couldn't help but giggle with glee, and Koji groaned and said, "Oh, just look at us. We're acting like a pair of girls!"  
  
"Or a pair of gay guys," Takuya said. They both exploded with laughter, and fell asleep with smiles on their faces.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
I can't believe how mushy that was! Ick! Hehehehe! What can I say? I'm a sucker for sweetness! I made this chapter a lot longer than usual for you guys, because I really owe you! School's been keeping me busy and I've neglected to update as much as I would've liked to. Again, this chapter was dedicated to all my reviewers! Oh, and I just want to let you know that this story should be wrapping up in a few chapters, though I'm not sure how many. Hopefully, I'll be able to update soon. I plan on having the kids finding and fighting Destructomon in the next chapter. And sorry about any spelling or grammatical errors I may have made in my haste to post this. Thanks for reading! 


	11. Chapter 11

Yikes, it's been three weeks since my last update. {Avoids the evil glares of angry reviewers}. Heh, sorry about that, but give me a break, I'm writing a different fic too, plus school keeps me really busy! I know, I know, you don't care. Alright, a word to my faithful reviewers:  
  
Crystal Ketchum Darklight- Oh, I didn't know it was "chido". Languages aren't my better area...it's gonna take a lot more than luck to get through school, but thanks anyways!!!!  
  
kellyQ- I'm glad you giggled! That's a good sign.  
  
dragi- I'll try to update sooner next time! Sorry!  
  
crystal-chan- Mush and gush are good!  
  
Splash-Yaoiluv- I know, the fluff was higher in that chapter than normally...fun!  
  
Hyper Pegesus- I! Ok, guess it's just you and me, then. Attack!  
  
wOOt- Er, okay. Uh, stop the glomping please! Thanks for reviewing, and I'm sure I'll make it a lemony ending.  
  
Kohaku- I'm just curious: what does sigue asi mean? Thanks!  
  
silvertail- That was the most interesting review I've ever gotten. Your review is probably why I'm finally updating today. It was a little scary. Good mix of threats, insults, and flattery! And wonderful descriptions of my behind! I'm glad you feel so strongly about this fic!!! I'm still cracking up! I think I'll save that review for a while.....that'll make sure I update more often. Thanks for the incentive!  
  
"speaking" /thinking/  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Takuya's POV  
  
Taming the Wild  
  
Wicchick  
  
The last thing Takuya wanted to do was get up. He was so utterly relaxed and at ease where he was, lying down on the bed with Koji right beside him, breathing deeply. With a small sigh, he propped himself up on his elbows and turned his head to look down at the still sleeping Koji. He frowned slightly: Koji's eyebrows were drawn together as if in concern and concentration. Koji then suddenly woke with a gasp, which in turn startled Takuya and made him gasp.  
  
"Whoa! What's wrong?" Takuya asked.  
  
Koji looked around and, seeing Takuya, visibly relaxed. "Nothing. Bad dream." He shook himself awake, and then smiled at Takuya. "No need to worry, Mom," he said sarcastically.  
  
"Ugh! Please don't say the word 'mom' when we're lying in bed together!" Takuya groaned with a pained expression on his face.  
  
Koji laughed loudly, then leaned closer to Takuya and placed a light kiss on his lips. Takuya went in for tongue, but Koji pulled away. "Not until we brush our teeth, love."  
  
Takuya whined. "If I really am your 'love', you wouldn't care!" he argued, but Koji just grinned and gave him a hug.  
  
"You're so cute when you whine. Damn it, I just said cute. Er-I'm still tired."  
  
"Sure," responded Takuya with a sly grin. "I'm sure it has nothing to do with my sinfully good looks."  
  
"I thought we already agreed that I was the hot one?"  
  
"Hah! I just wanted to get in your pants!"  
  
"And you still haven't managed that."  
  
They both blushed at this innuendo and looked away. Takuya heard faint noises, and groaned. "Oh great, the others are up."  
  
"Think they'll come in here?"  
  
But before Takuya could reply, the door to their bedroom swung open. Zoë's mouth was opened as though about to say something, and it remained hanging open as she took in the scene before her.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Koji and Takuya were too shocked to move. Instead, they tensed up, not moving a muscle, and hoping against hope that maybe if they remained still and quiet enough, she wouldn't even see them. But she did. And she screamed.  
  
/Oh shit!/  
  
Her scream made both boys jump up and attempt to get off the bed. However, in their panic they only succeeded in getting tangled up in the bed sheets, and then it was no use to try and get out: J.P. and Tommy had both already hurried over.  
  
"Zoë what's wrong?! Are you-" J.P. stopped as he, too, took in the situation. Tommy merely stared.  
  
"What's going on? Why's everyone so quiet?" he asked innocently. He looked confused at the sight of Koji and Takuya being so close together, but obviously didn't have a clue as to what was going on. The five of them just stared at each other in a tense silence. Finally, J.P. shook himself out of his thoughts, pulled Zoë and Tommy out of the bedroom with him and shut the door firmly, leaving Takuya and Koji alone once again.  
  
They immediately turned to one another, and then jumped out from the beds. Takuya hastily started pulling the beds apart to their original spots while Koji paced back and forth anxiously.  
  
"What's the point, Takuya? They've already seen us!" he yelled angrily.  
  
Takuya looked up with a start. "Well, what else am I suppose to do?" he yelled just as angrily back.  
  
"Nothing! They know, our cover's blown, it's too late to try and cover it up!"  
  
Takuya couldn't think of anything else to say. Koji was right: their secret was out. They were being brutally forced out of the closet. Sighing resignedly, Takuya abandoned his attempt to move the beds apart, and slumped down onto the foot of one of the beds. Koji joined him, and said quietly, "Sorry I yelled. I just- I can't believe it. I can't believe it happened like that, with them just walking in on us."  
  
"I know. I thought about how we'd tell them, if we did, and this was not how I was expecting it." They sat in silent thought for a minute. "What now? Do we just go out there and admit it? We can't stay in here forever."  
  
Koji closed his eyes wearily. "This has got to be another bad dream," he muttered to himself. Opening his eyes, he turned to Takuya and replied, "I guess so. There's no hiding it now, and there's nothing left for us to do. We can't get out of this one."  
  
For once in his life, Takuya accepted defeat.  
  
"You're right," he said, and stood up. Koji stood, too, and the both of them awkwardly pulled on their shoes, Takuya also putting on his hat, goggles, and gloves. They gave each other one last, reassuring look, and slowly opened the door, ready to face their friends.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
"Where are they?" Takuya asked, ten seconds later. He had expected for the others to be waiting just on the other side of the bedroom door, but when he and Koji had emerged from the room, they found no one there.  
  
"I think I hear them downstairs," Koji answered in a voice of determined calmness. Together, they walked downstairs and the voices grew louder. From the clattering noises, it sounded as though Mamomon and the others were setting the table for breakfast. The two boys entered the kitchen, looking as if they had been caught red-handed in a small crime. Sure enough, the other four kids and three digimon were just sitting down to eat.  
  
"Oh, at last you two are up! Late sleepers, aren't we?" Mamomon said kindly, ushering them to the table. "Sit down and eat, dears, the others have just informed me that they plan to find Destructomon today."  
  
Takuya looked at the table to where the others were seated. Not one of them was looking at him or Koji. Koji seemed to have noticed this too, and raised an eyebrow at Takuya, who shrugged and took one of the seats between the digimon. Koji joined him, and they sat quietly, though neither of them felt much like eating. Takuya bit into an apple just to have something to do with his mouth while he tried to sort out his thoughts.  
  
/We can't talk to the others here, not in front of Bokomon, Neemon, and Mamomon. Then again, it doesn't seem like the others want to talk. I thought they'd be jumping down our backs! This is so unlike them, especially Zoë. Usually, she'd be bombarding me with questions right now./  
  
The tenseness between the children was very apparent, even to the digimon. Bokomon looked up from his orange juice, and stared incredulously at the humans. "What's wrong with you? Why aren't you talking? You should be going through your plans to defeat Destructomon!"  
  
After a moments silence, J.P. quietly spoke up. "We.....we're just worried about Destructomon, that's all."  
  
Takuya made a mental note to thank him later-if they ever talked again, that is.  
  
"Well, sitting around worrying about it won't help! I- uh-" Bokomon looked around hopefully for one of the kids to start talking, and took an extra long look at Takuya, obviously confused as to why their leader was being so quiet. "Oh, all right! If none of you have the sense enough to make a plan, I will!" he finished.  
  
"Oh, let me help, let me help!" Neemon said excitedly.  
  
"Shut up, nincompoop! All right," he started as he extracted his book of the Digital World and flipped to the back, where there were a few extra blank pages, and ripped one of them out, "Mamomon, could I trouble you for a pen?"  
  
"No trouble at all," she said, getting up to retrieve one for him. When she handed him the pen and sat down again, Bokomon began scribbling. Takuya unconcernedly looked at what was supposedly a plan, but looked more to him like a mess. Bokomon brandished the plan for all to see, and the other kids mumbled their consent, though Takuya was sure that none of them knew what it meant, either.  
  
"See? See? You simply Digivolve to your Beast Spirits and then perform a combined attack! I'm guessing that attacking one at a time won't work. And if that doesn't work, Koji and Takuya will use their Fusion Evolution, though I don't think they'll have to even go that far. From what we've been told, Destructomon has been meeting opposition all day and night yesterday, so he will be quite worn out. This may actually be an easy victory!" He smiled happily, but didn't receive any smiles in return. "Uh, yes, and then you can go back to restoring this world! And then go home! Well, do you even care anymore? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" He was very agitated that no one showed any signs of happiness, not even at the thought of going home.  
  
Once again, however, J.P. came to their rescue. "That's great, Bokomon! Nothings wrong, we're just tired. We'll feel better soon," he said in a would-be casual voice.  
  
Looking unconvinced, yet still quite agitated, Bokomon rose from the table. "Well, then, I suppose we ought to go now." The group hastily stood up and walked out of the kitchen. When they reached the door, Bokomon turned to Mamomon. "Mamomon, we can't thank you enough for your generosity!"  
  
"It was my pleasure! If you see my sons out there, tell them who you are- I've spoken of you to them many times. Good luck, warriors!"  
  
The kids half-heartedly smiled and thanked her, and with Bokomon and Neemon, left the house in pursuit of Destructomon.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
The silence that had carried on for half an hour as the kids walked around was finally shattered. Takuya looked up abruptly. He could hear screaming Digimon.  
  
/ Stay focused. Stop thinking about the others and start concentrating on the task ahead- defeating Destructomon is the prime priority tight now/  
  
He had been mulling over the present situation involving him, Koji, and the other humans, and decided that if they weren't going to talk about it yet, he could just put it aside for the time being and deal with their other problems. Of course, he'd have to come back to this later.  
  
"OK, guys," he said unsurely, the first words among them to be spoken for the past two hours, "we can all hear the screaming now. Let's-let's, uh, go follow the sounds. It should lead us right to the enemy." The rest of them quietly acquiesced.  
  
/Well, at least they're still taking orders from me. This could be worse: instead of ignoring us, they could be biting our heads off./  
  
As they walked on, following the screaming sounds, an odd feeling rose in the pit of Takuya's stomach. In fact, this feeling was running through his veins now. Takuya instantly recognized this as the feeling of being connected to this world, and through this feeling, he could feel that even more damage was being done.  
  
He had been so absorbed in this feeling that he failed to recognize the sudden quietness.  
  
"Uh, um, Takuya," Zoë started weakly, "it-it's quiet now. The screaming- it's gone."  
  
After she mentioned this, Takuya realized that it was true. The screaming should have gotten louder as they traveled closer to the source, yet instead, it had died out completely, leaving an eerie silence in its wake.  
  
"Er-do you think that maybe we're going the wrong way?" It was easy to tell that Zoë was trying to keep a calm voice, but her erratic stuttering prevented that from happening.  
  
"No," Takuya said confidently. "I can feel it: we're going the right way. Something's wrong. You're right, it shouldn't be this quiet. Let's just keep going."  
  
They continued on for another ten minutes, the silence becoming deafening. They were passing by broken down buildings and crushed homes, and oddly enough still didn't see any digimon. As they came up to what appeared to be the heart of the city, a cloud of gray dust and smoke partially blinded them. Takuya first squinted his eyes, then pulled his goggles on to be able to see through all the debris. The others had their arms around their faces, covering their eyes to protect them.  
  
Takuya was the first to see it. At first, he could only make out a big dark shadow, but as they came nearer to it, he realized with a feeling of great trepidation that it was two creatures, not just one. One of them was about to have their data scanned.  
  
The other one was Destructomon.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
"NOOO!"  
  
The others looked up abruptly at Takuya's yell. They all gasped. Right before them, the evil digimon Destructomon was about to steal the data of another victim. Takuya suddenly realized why all the screaming had died out- the digimon screaming had all been scanned.  
  
Bokomon stepped forwards. "Oh no, it's one of Mamomon's children! That means the rest of them must be......" he trailed off.  
  
"Destructomon! Leave that digimon before we attack your sorry ass!" Takuya yelled.  
  
Destructomon had only just noticed the children standing there. He slowly turned to them, a sadistic smile playing on his lips, and laughed. "Children? HUMAN CHILDREN! This is who Ophanimon sends to save the Digital World? Ha!"  
  
"I'm warning you, leave that digimon alone!"  
  
But Destructomon turned right back to his victim, and took his data, leaving nothing but a digi-egg behind.  
  
"NO!" Bokomon cried. "No, not......it can't be......oh, Mamomon's poor children!"  
  
Takuya's heart sank. Mamomon had done so much for them, and she had been so sure that her children were still alive, fighting Destructomon.......  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" he yelled at the others. "START ATTACKING!"  
  
Instantly, the others Digivolved according to Bokomon's plan. Takuya and Koji, who had decided to Fusion Evolve right away, led the attack. The others fought alongside them, and in that moment, the five kids once again became a team.  
  
"It's not working!" Tommy cried. "He's too strong! He should be weaker!"  
  
Destructomon threw a powerful attack his way, and J.P. barely saved Tommy in time. "WEAKER?" Destructomon roared. "Why would I be weaker? After all the data I've stolen from those damn digimon who thought they could defeat me-"  
  
"That's why he seems so powerful!" Koji exclaimed. "He took their data! I can't believe it! They didn't even put a dent in him, he-he's-"  
  
"Nearly invincible!" Destructomon finished happily. "And after I steal your data, there will be nothing to stop me! I will be the supreme ruler of the Digital World!"  
  
Takuya's anger flared, and he attacked Destructomon head on. "You'll never win!" he said between punches. "Evil cannot rule!"  
  
Destructomon flung Takuya away, and Takuya landed hard on the cold, dusty ground. He looked up, ready to fight more, and saw that his friends were lying all around him, devolved.  
  
/Oh no! He's too strong!/  
  
"Guys, get up!" he yelled. "You've got to get up! You've got to keep fighting!"  
  
But the others could barely open their eyes. Takuya suddenly realized that he, too, had devolved back to his human form. Destructomon laughed sinisterly.  
  
"I was right! I am invincible! Not even the Five Legendary Warriors can defeat me now!"  
  
Takuya feared that he was right. He and Koji had used their most powerful attacks, and Destructomon wasn't even panting.  
  
"Well, look at that," Destructomon continued, "your data. Hmmm, whose to steal first......."  
  
Takuya looked around once again and noticed that the data of his friends and even his own data had appeared.  
  
/But, if our data gets scanned in this world, we really die!/  
  
Destructomon made for the body closest to him: Koji's.  
  
"NO!" Takuya cried. Koji was lying helplessly on the ground, his data glimmering around him. Behind him, Takuya could hear the others stirring. "KOJI!"  
  
Destructomon came even closer to Koji, reaching out his hand to take the data. Everything went silent in Takuya's mind, despite the noise around him. Gathering up the last of his strength, he made a dash for Koji. He ran at the speed of lightning, but to him, it took days. Destructomon's hand was just in front of Koji's data.  
  
Takuya leaped in front of his hand and threw himself before Koji, wanting nothing more but to protect the person he loved the most in two worlds. Inside of him, a burning sensation swelled with all his hatred and anger for the evil digimon standing before him. Suddenly, he was roaring.  
  
He was no longer in human form. Some new power had arisen in him, something so strong that Takuya could barely control it. The natural powers of the Digital World were rising in him once again.  
  
Flame engulfed Destructomon, followed by ice, wind, lightning, and light. The attacks didn't stop there, however. Powers Takuya could have never imagined were suddenly being used to defeat this foe. Swirls of red and black light encircled Destructomon, who had suddenly halted and had an odd, dazed look about him. Takuya's mind was still silent and he heard nothing, not even his own roaring. All he could see, all he could feel, was the power being used against Destructomon to defeat him, to save the Digital World, to save his friends, to save Koji.........  
  
Colorful lights danced in front of Takuya. It was Destructomon's data. Takuya raised his D-Tector. "FRACTAL CODE DIGITIZE!" he yelled, and with one long, sweeping motion, he absorbed all of Destructomon's data in his D- Tector. Not even a digi-egg was left behind. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Takuya turned around hastily, and bent over Koji. "Koji! Koji, wake up!" he cried desperately. He became aware that the others had fully woken up and were now surrounding him and Koji, but he didn't care. He didn't care what they thought about him and Koji anymore; all he wanted was for Koji to be OK..........  
  
"Takuya?" Koji's eyes were slowly opening.  
  
"Koji! You're all right!" Takuya said, relieved.  
  
"Of course I am," Koji said softly in an attempt to sound casual, though it was apparent that he was in pain. "I could never leave you, you know that. You need me way too much."  
  
Takuya didn't even bother to make a combat to that. He just embraced Koji and held him down as Koji struggled against him to get up.  
  
"Get off! Get off! I'm fine!" But Takuya refused to let go. Koji weakly submitted, saying, "Sheesh, you really could be my mother."  
  
Takuya grinned and looked up, again noticing that all his friends' eyes (including those of Bokomon and Neemon) were upon the two of them. But Takuya now saw that there was no disgust in their eyes: instead, their eyes reflected happiness. Takuya knew that his friends had accepted him and Koji being together. This only made him grin more.  
  
As he helped Koji to his feet, his D-Tector flew off of the ground where it had fallen, and floated in the air in front of him. The others' D-Tectors did the same. Ophanimon's voice rang out:  
  
"The struggle is over, Legendary Warriors. Your mission has been accomplished."  
  
As she said this, all the data that the kids had accumulated from evil digimon flew out of their D-Tectors. The data whirled around them, and then flew all over the city, restoring it as it did so.  
  
Ophanimon's voice was heard again. "All the data from your D-Tectors will go around this world, restoring it to how it was before the many evil digimon came. Thank you, children. You have restored and brought peace to this world at last."  
  
The sound of her voice diminished and a brilliant light engulfed the area surrounding the kids, who hid their faces in their arms to keep from being blinded as the world went white. ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________  
  
Wow, that was long! Don't worry, there's still one last chapter to come. I can't believe this story is almost over! I think I'll cry....but I'll wait till the last chapter to do that. Oh, and give me two weeks to write the last chapter before you start sending me death threats- I want to finish it off right! Hope you enjoyed it! Oh yeah, almost forgot, I have another note: I won't be posting a Koji POV chapter. Sorry! I really just didn't think it fit in too well, since the rest of this fic is in Takuya's POV. Don't be mad!!! 


	12. Chapter 12

Aww, OK guys, this is it: the last chapter! I know, it'll be hard to let go for me, too. But nothing gold can stay in season. Look at me being overly dramatic! Besides, this isn't quite gold. Anywho, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and I hope you all find your-er-"closure" here.  
  
kellyQ- Cool, you've been a reviewer since chapter one. You get candy!!! Thanks for sticking with this story-your devotion to this fic brings tears to me eyes (He he he, again with the sappiness and dramatization! How else could I write fluff without being a sap myself? Think about that!)  
  
crystal-chan- Thanks for your review! You can have the rest of the candy!  
  
dragi- I know that these last few chapters have taken longer to be posted, but I swear, it's only because of school!  
  
silvertail- {Smiles} Wow, I think I'm gonna get a big head now! Aww, I'm your favorite? Really? Gee golly, I'm at a loss for words {blushes}. I'm REALLY glad that you like this fic so much! Thanks for the flattering reviews. If I can't fit my head through the neck of a shirt tomorrow, I'm blaming you!  
  
Kagami Onna- You would really be doing me a favor if you burned my school down! I would worship you! Well, I might not go that far, but I'd be happy to bust you out of jail..{hands the policemen a box of poisoned doughnuts...he eats...I score!} Your free....now you can do whatever you like-like maybe read this chapter and review again (hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge)! Oh, and Kouji's hair is blue. At least it is in most versions (as well as in this Digific).  
  
Crystal Ketchum Darklight- Thanks for reviewing! Do you have another penname? I think I remember you once reviewing in a different one, or maybe it was someone else, can't really remember. Damn my memory!  
  
Angel Spirit- Yay, a new reviewer! I'm glad that you found this fic, too. Yeah, we all sorta hated Zoë for a while after I posted Chapter 6, but you're absolutely right: she knows that Takuya is with Koji now! Thanks for taking the time to read through this story. I always love getting reviews!  
  
Kohaku- Yeah, sorry about that. I really sorta thought it'd just ruin the consistency of this story. Anyways, thanks for the review! Oh, and I'll ask someone what "poca madre" means. My Spanish isn't so great- my sister's is though! I'll go ask her now....  
  
And since I wont be responding to you guys anymore (at least for this story), thanks to anyone else who has reviewed before. And you all get...um....Takouji T-Shirts! Yeah, they're pretty sweet! Alright, guys, here it goes:  
  
"speaking" /Thinking/  
  
Takuya's POV (as always)  
  
Digimon does not belong to me.  
  
Taming the Wild  
  
Wicchick  
  
"Takuya! Are you sleeping? I can't believe this, how could act so bored, especially on Shinya's birthday...."  
  
"Huh?" Takuya was in a daze. /W-what's going on, where am I?/ He had just woken up, and his head hurt something awful. Shaking his head, he finally realized what was going on. "Mom! Is that really you?"  
  
His mother gave him a bemused look, and said, "Are you feeling OK?"  
  
Takuya jumped up of the dining table chair, where he had found himself sitting, and leaped towards his mother, nearly knocking her over in a hug.  
  
"Whoa! What's gotten into you?" she said happily.  
  
"I'm just so glad to be ba-to be.....I just don't think I hug you enough." He let go and smiled at her. Spotting Shinya, his younger brother, out of the corner of his eye, he ran towards him. Shinya's eyes went wide with fright, and Takuya laughed. "Relax buddy! I'm not gonna hurt you!" and he embraced him as he had done to his mother. "Happy birthday."  
  
"Eww! Get off me!"  
  
Takuya laughed once more, but obliged. He looked around his house. After who knows how long in the Digital World, he was finally home. /Wait. The Digital World...the others! They must be back at their homes too./ he thought. How could he have forgotten about the others, even for just a second? More so, how could he not be thinking of Koji?  
  
He quickly sprinted to the door, but spun around abruptly as he reached it. "Uh, Mom, I've gotta go.....uh, but I'll be back soon! Don't worry!" and he ran out, leaving his mother and brother staring at the door as it slammed shut. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
He knew exactly where to go. Where else? The question was, would the others be there, too? Well, if they wanted to see each other, then yes, but if they weren't ready yet.....  
  
/No. They're there. I know it. I couldn't have spent so much time with them without having rubbed off on them at least a little bit./  
  
He slowed to a fast walk as he neared Jiyugaoka Station, breathing heavily from having run all the way there. He climbed the same staircase he had climbed when he had been following Ophanimon's message, went on to the same train, and upheld the same hurried and impatient mood as before. One particular difference stood out to him, though: this time, Koji wasn't with him.  
  
As the train stopped in Shibuya Station, and the doors flew open, Takuya sped away in the direction of the place he had gone to before. He found the elevator, leaped inside, and pressed the down button. He stared blankly at the elevator doors, watching them: they took a painfully long time to come closer to each other, and Takuya was almost ready to slam them closed himself, when something long hurtled past the doors, into the elevator. Takuya was knocked down and quickly stood back up, his fists lifted, ready to fight. But he lowered them as he looked at the intruder. Crumpled in a pile and lying upside-down on his head was none other than wolf-boy.  
  
"Koji!!!"  
  
Koji barely had time to look up and grin before Takuya had fallen on top of him, forcing him back to the ground.  
  
"Hello lover. Thought I'd find you in here," Koji said cheerfully.  
  
Takuya unwillingly lifted himself off his boyfriend and said, "Doesn't this seem familiar?"  
  
Koji nodded. "Mm-hmm, only last time, if my memory serves me correctly, it was you who landed on your head."  
  
Takuya smiled. "Aww, you remembered!" And without warning, he grabbed Koji from behind the neck and pulled him into a long-overdue kiss. As soon as their lips met, the elevator made a "ting" sound. The doors started to open, but Takuya, lips still glued to Koji's, blindly kicked at the elevator's buttons until the doors shut again.  
  
Koji's arms wrapped around Takuya's waist and he hoisted him up. He leaned Takuya against one of the elevator's walls, and deepened the kiss. Takuya found that, once again, his neck was being pampered with love bites and he had to bite his lip to keep from giggling. When Koji had sufficiently decorated Takuya's neck, he looked back up into his eyes.  
  
"Wow. This is even more fun in our world than in the Digital one," he said. Takuya nodded his agreement.  
  
"Definitely. We should do this more often."  
  
"Think so?"  
  
"Sure, why not. I haven't got anything better to do."  
  
They both smiled at their little game, and turned to the doors. Koji pressed the button to open them, and led the way out.  
  
It looked a lot different from last time. Takuya then remembered that last time, they had gone down past all the floors, past what should have been the very last floor. This time, it seemed, they had simply gone to the last floor.  
  
"Do you think the others knew to come here?" he asked.  
  
"What do you take us for? Idiots?" answered a high-pitched voice from behind. Takuya and Koji turned to face Zoë, who was standing between J.P. and Tommy.  
  
"Hey!!! Oh, no of course not, I...uh, just thought...." he stuttered, but Zoë cut him off.  
  
" I'm so happy to see you guys! I can't believe it: we're FINALLY home! Isn't this weird, though? Being here, in the Human World again, after everything we've been through....I feel so....different."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean," said J.P. "Life wont ever be the same again."  
  
"We've all learned so much, and gone through so much together. It'll take some time to adjust," added Tommy.  
  
"Hey, do you guys not have your D-Tectors, too?" Koji asked. They all checked their pockets, but their hands came out with only their cell phones. "That's what I thought. I guess it really is over."  
  
"Well, it's not like we'd need them in the Human World, is it?" Takuya sad sadly. He was already starting to miss the Digital World- it had all ended so suddenly and unexpectedly. He thought they would have stayed there longer to help fix it up and say 'bye' to all the friends they had made. "Besides, we only used are D-Tectors to Digivolve, and Digimon can't exist in this world."  
  
"Well, not usually, anyways." They all jumped. Standing behind them were Bokomon, Neemon, and Mamomon. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
Zoë shrieked. "What are you guys doing here? You can't come here!"  
  
"Thanks for the warm welcome. Actually, Ophanimon gave us special permission to come here. Mamomon just wanted to thank you, as did Neemon and I. We felt that our last, abrupt good-bye didn't provide much closure."  
  
Mamomon stepped forward. She looked rather unwell, and her eyes were red. "I w-w-wanted to t-t-thank you all p-p-personally. It was too late for my...my s-sons, but you five saved the D-D-Digital World. Thank you!"  
  
They smiled sympathetically at her. "Aw, your welcome, Mamomon," Zoë said. "It's not like we would have left your world to be destroyed!"  
  
"Bokomon, what about the Digital World? Everything's OK now, right?" asked Takuya.  
  
"Off course, Ophanimon wouldn't have sent you back to this world otherwise. All the Digimon are helping each other out and everything's peaceful now.....you wouldn't believe it, but Ophanimon has fully recovered and is now ruling over the Digital World." Bokomon looked around anxiously. "All right, we'd better get going-we aren't allowed to stay long at all-it's very dangerous. But thank you. I know how hard it must have been, having the weight of the Digital World rest upon your shoulders, but you five have made me so proud! Good-bye!"  
  
"Bye-Bye Birdie!" Neemon cried. The kids all chorused "good-bye" back to the three Digimon, and with an explosion of light, they disappeared. The kids were left alone again.  
  
Zoë was smiling. " Well, I'm glad we got to say a proper farewell to them."  
  
Everyone fell silent, not knowing where to go from here. Tommy's watched started to ring, and he clicked a button to turn it off. " Oh, I've really got to get going-my mom will panic if I'm not home on time."  
  
"Yeah," sighed J.P., "I think I'd better head off, too."  
  
"Wait a minute, guys!" Takuya said. "Uh-can we all-I don't know- exchange numbers or something?"  
  
"Well duh!" J.P. said as he flipped his cell phone open. The others did likewise, and all of them exchanged numbers.  
  
"It's going to be weird not to see you guys everyday, now," Takuya said sadly. Even though it was great to finally be back home, he was going to miss all the time they had spent together.  
  
"Don't worry-we can still get together. We couldn't forget about each other after all that, now could we? Oh, by the way" Zoë started, "I was just wondering......um, so are you two.....?" she nodded to Takuya and Koji, who looked at each other, and then back to their friends with a sudden jerk of understanding.  
  
"Oh, uh...heh, yeah," Koji answered shyly.  
  
"That's great! Really! We know we acted weird about it back at Mamomon's place, but we were just-well, surprised to tell you the truth. Anyways, we had talked about it, and all of us agree that it's good. You guys are great for each other!"  
  
Takuya and Koji didn't respond-they were too embarrassed from having their relationship talked about, but at the same time, they were relieved that their friends could be so open and casual about it.  
  
"Right, well, like I said, I'd better go," J.P. said, lightening the mood. Takuya remembered his mental note to thank him for covering up for them at Mamomon's house, but decided that it might shatter the moment.  
  
"See you guys later!" he said instead, and J.P. and Tommy headed back to their homes. Zoë was getting ready to leave too, but Takuya thought of something.  
  
"Hey, wait a minute. When I got back here, I came back to where I had been before I left for the Digital World. Weren't you guys all away from home? How'd you get here?"  
  
"Oh, I had been camping, and that's where I returned when I came back. But, somehow, one of the counselors got a call telling them to bring me back home. When I got home, I just came straight here. I have a funny feeling that the call might have been from Ophanimon.......anyways, J.P. had gotten back from school and came here afterwards, too, and Tommy was already here- "  
  
"And I," Koji began, "had been buying flowers for my step-mom. I gave them to her before coming here."  
  
"Hey, guys, I have to go, too. Call me sometime!" Zoë waved them good-bye, and stepped into the elevator to leave.  
  
Takuya turned back to Koji. "Didn't you tell me something about a brother before?"  
  
Koji nodded. "In fact, after I gave the flowers to my step-mom, my father told me that he felt really bad about having lied to me before, so he called my mom- my real mom. They talked for a long time, and after a while, she agreed to bring Kouichi-my brother-over. He'll be coming by tomorrow along with my mother........man, I'm nervous! He's my twin, you know- you'd better not fall for him, now."  
  
Takuya smiled. "Hmm, two Koji's instead of just one- Oh, the possibilities......" Koji punched his arm and Takuya laughed. "Don't worry. Besides, I doubt he's gay, too, right?"  
  
"Yeah, probably not. Anyways, like I said, I'm nervous. I don't remember ever seeing him before, and I don't remember my mother either...after Kouichi and I get through the whole 'bonding' process, I'll call you over. You might as well get to know each other, since I'll no doubt be talking about you non-stop."  
  
"So, do you think you'll tell him about the Digital World?"  
  
"No. I'd hate for his first impression of me to be that I'm a lunatic-a gay one, at that. But, who knows, maybe later.....he would never believe me, I'm sure, but maybe I'll tell him one day, just to see his reaction."  
  
"I don't think I'll tell anyone, either. Besides, it's kind of nice for it to be just between the five of us," Takuya responded, motioning as though the others were still there.  
  
Koji looked around and sighed. "I think I'm ready to go back home."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Hey, don't worry! We can still see each other-I'll call you tomorrow. We must live pretty close to each other- I'm not far from this Station."  
  
Takuya pouted, but nodded his head. "You can go ahead. I think I'm just gonna spend a few minutes here alone." Koji shrugged, quickly kissed Takuya on the cheek, and went into the elevator. Takuya watched as it ascended, and when he could see it no longer, he started to walk around.  
  
He just wanted some time to let it all sink in: the fact that they were home. The fact that they were fully human now and no longer part Digimon- their adventures were over. He wouldn't be seeing them every day-but they'd always be close friends, he knew that. After all that they had been through together-saving an entire world- nothing could split them up now. Not him and Koji being together, and not being back home. They would always be a team in some way, and would always be there for each other- in the Digital World, in the Human World, and in any other world that they might encounter.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________  
  
***One Month Later***  
  
"WAKE UP!"  
  
Takuya groaned.  
  
"Finally! You sleep like a rock, you know? Here, you have a phone call," his brother said, handing Takuya his cell phone.  
  
"Hello?" Takuya mumbled sleepily. It was, after all, only half past noon.  
  
"Hey. Come over, quick. I want to show you something."  
  
Takuya turned his phone off and jumped out of bed. He never delayed when Koji invited him over- his promptness was always awarded with extra affection. After he took a quick shower, changed, and brushed his teeth, he left a note on the fridge saying where he was going, and left.  
  
Koji was standing at his front door before Takuya had even knocked. "Hey!" he said shortly. Takuya pleasantly awaited a kiss, but was disappointed to find that Koji had forgotten to award him, and instead had pulled him inside.  
  
"Takuya, meet Kouichi. Kouichi, this is Takuya."  
  
Takuya's face screwed up in puzzlement as he looked at Kouichi. /This whole twin thing could get really confusing/ "Hey Kouichi! I've heard loads about you." And it was true- it had been a month since they had returned from the Digital World, and though he hadn't seen Kouichi in person until now, Koji had spoken of him a great deal whenever they got together.  
  
"Hey," Kouichi responded. "Yeah, I've heard loads about you, too," he said with a cheeky smile at Koji, who blushed.  
  
"Hmm, well, we'll have to have a talk to see what Koji's been saying about us," Takuya replied, grinning.  
  
"Definitely."  
  
"Right, uh, well," started Koji uncomfortably, "Kouichi's got to go now, but he'll be over again soon- we get together every other weekend."  
  
"Fine, I'll go," Kouichi said, heading out the door. With a wink at Takuya, he added, "So I hear your quite skilled with your tongue, is that right?"  
  
"KOUICHI!"  
  
Takuya laughed as Kouichi ran out the door. "Well, I can see we'll get along nicely."  
  
Koji glared at him and muttered, something about never letting them meet again, under his breath. Takuya smiled, took his hand, and led Koji back outside. "Don't be embarrassed. I'm quite flattered. Do you want to go to the park?"  
  
They closed the door, and walked, hand-in-hand, to the park. It was a beautiful, sunny day. They often went to the park, mostly on weekends because school kept them busy. They didn't go to the same school, but still managed to see each other very often. They made it a habit to get the whole gang together on a weekly basis. Even though they all had other friends, too, the five Ex-Legendary Warriors were still as close a group as ever, and their other friends could never measure up to the relationship that they had.  
  
They reached the park, and Takuya and Koji found a nice shady spot under a large oak tree to lie. Takuya sprawled out on his back, and Koji leaned against the tree. They sat in silent thought, as they often did. They loved just being with each other, even if all they did was sit around. As they both laid there, in the shade of the tree, Takuya reminisced about the Digital World. He still missed it, but the Human World wasn't as boring as he thought it'd be after all their adventures and battles.  
  
Pretty soon, he was thinking of Koji, and how much more different he was now. Koji was no longer sullen and unhappy- on the contrary, he had really opened up with Takuya and the rest of the gang. It seemed that this change had most fully taken place just after their return to this world, and after Koji had reunited with his mother and twin. He had been opening up more before, back in the Digital World, too, but now it seemed that he always had a smile on his face.  
  
Koji was no longer a loner, and from what Takuya heard, he had new friends at school, too. He was still the same person, of course, but his bitterness had faded. The Digital World had really done him good- /and I helped change him too, of course/. Takuya had succeeded in taming the wild.  
  
Smiling at this thought, Takuya got up and slung an arm around Koji's neck. Koji turned to him and said, "I forgot to thank you for coming over so soon. You're always so good about coming over quickly when I call you."  
  
/Finally he remembers!/  
  
Koji rested his arms on Takuya's shoulders, and leaned forwards to kiss the still goggle-wearing boy. Takuya pulled away to stare into Koji's eyes, and after a moment's silence, said, "You're not bad with your tongue either, you know. Could use some practice, though."  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yeah. I'd be willing to teach you some tricks of the trade if you're willing to learn."  
  
"I guess I could always use some more practice. But, if you don't mind my saying, you're starting to rust up a bit, too."  
  
"Hey! You told Kouichi-"  
  
"Sure, but that was a few days ago. I'd hate to have to take that compliment back."  
  
"Then I guess we'd better work on our tactics. Let's try for at least.... a full five minutes of making out, nonstop," Takuya said, nearly drooling at the thought.  
  
"Agreed. It seems that we both need the extra lessons," replied Koji with a smirk.  
  
Takuya looked down at his wristwatch. "Alright, then. Ready.....five minutes starting.....now."  
  
They both emerged from under the tree, breathless, twenty minutes later.  
  
THE END  
  
___________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________Yay! I actually finished it! I've never written a complete story, but then again, the only other story I'm writing is far from finished. I'm a bit sad, though. {Sigh}. It's really over. I tried not to become emotionally involved, but what can I say? Anyways.....what did you guys think? Now that it's over, I think I'm gonna print it out and laminate it or something cause I'm proud of it!!! He he he! I know that the ending was really sappy, but I'm sure you've noticed by now that I love happy chapters, and I could have never ended this on depressing terms.  
  
Thanks for reading this Takouji fan-fiction! You guys rock!  
  
~ Wicchick 


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